Quest: YGGDRASIL
by RanOutOfBatteries
Summary: Java had world-hopped for centuries beyond mankind's imagination. However, never before had she been spoken to by a false Yggdrasil, let alone being ordered by said imposter to kill all of the World Enemies... (In other words, Java becomes a human, enters Nazarick despite the consequences, and makes sure that absolutely no one does anything stupid.)
1. Chapter 1

Hi. i wanted to write something involving my character again, and for those of you who haven't read my earlier works, welcome! I hope you enjoy your stay.

Yggdrasil was definitely a pleasant surprise since it's one of my favorite tropes in both art and writing, and the lore for Overlord was very detailed at that. I've spent hours poring over all of the sections and subsections, and although a good chunk of the plot is left remaining I feel like I have a good grasp on all of the characters. I really like reading the summaries, and truth be told it's the detail that I find far more entertaining than the anime/light novel.

* * *

Chapter 1

It was not summer and yet there were winds moving through the spaces in between the trees to rest upon her skin, whispering songs of heat and despair. The feeling of grass was cool underneath her feet, which was a minor blessing.

Java felt herself slowly coming to, wondering where the vague feeling had come from that this world, in juxtaposition to many others, was especially one that was not supposed to exist.

The first thing she did when she opened her eyes was to clamp them shut again. Light blinded her briefly, and the overstimulation of her eyes made her avert her eyes toward a darker area of her vision, which just so happened to be a large patch of dark red mushrooms.

She was supposed to be prone as she did not feel her legs supporting her weight, but instead she was still held upright by something that was not of her doing. She could feel it pressing into her, almost restricting in its grasp. There were plants underneath her feet. She got up slowly, struggling, feeling her bones shake as she settled into place and the physical body weighing down on her with all the laws of physics that she so readily allowed to affect her person.

Something caught, and as Java looked down she realized what exactly her form had been through.

Her entire body was buried in wood.

Swirled markings and bark had grown around her fingers, her torso, and her feet to trap her within its grasp. There were roots weaving over her feet and downward into the dark soil beneath her to successfully shackle her, immobile.

Mossy earth blanketed the forest floor, and as Java craned her neck to observe she found that she was surrounded by trees, all far taller than she had anticipated. Light came trickling through the leaves, and she felt a strange warmth as one of the rays hit her skin. She tried moving one of her hands and hit a dead end, unable to even flex a single muscle. She did not know why, but she was stuck in a forest with no clue how she'd gotten there.

She gave up.

Java hadn't felt the sun in so long. Realizing this, she looked up, feeling the light pouring over her like a new blessing, closing her eyes in contentment as if she would lay there and remain happy for a very long period of time.

It was disorienting, to say the least. Physical limitations did not stop her, these plants could not obstruct her ability to move and to see if she just tried to break free. Java just laid there, however, watching a thin trail of ants climb their way up the bark and into a crevice of another tree.

Small, talented creatures, she thought, spotting one of them carrying a leaf five times its size. They are hardy and overworked, and yet they manage to accomplish many things by themselves. They care for nothing but their purpose.

Despite the situation she was in, being trapped in a tree that had somehow grown around her (sort of like clipping into the wall of a house in a video game, Java thought, snorting), she rested there, taking it all in until the sun moved slightly and the rays were no longer hitting her hair and one of her arms. Java was then just about to start destroying the tree until she looked up and met the eyes of a creature that had definitely not been there before.

It had eyes that glimmered, sharp teeth to indicate that it was definitely not human. Vines curled from its head, leaves tumbling down its shoulders. Dryad, her mind supplied.

Those of the fey, creatures who were very attuned to nature and the plants around them most specifically were sourced from the tree the spirit emerged from. Their sole source of energy and habitation relied on the birth tree. Forests that have been long-lasting over several centuries are most likely a place for a dryad to emerge, and their longevity is well known to human travelers.

These beings were not very well studied by scholars, due to them being mischevious and very quick to run. It was not that dryads did not like humans; on the contrary, most of the dryad population found humans to be a source for entertainment, but once a dryad was separated from the ebwyn they became agitated, weak, and unable to live very long afterward since the tree was their sustenance. Travelers attempting to strike a conversation would most likely find themselves rid of their possessions, clothing, and other material valuables once the hours passed. It did not help that fairies often lived close by as well.

Java frowned and blinked, eyeing this figure who was hunched over right in front of her and forcing complete and unmoving eye contact. This was definitely a dryad, at least with similar attributes like the near-elven features and the head of green leaves. She had dredged up most of the information she knew about the creatures, and not all of it may be accurate because frankly, she had no idea what this world was or how she acted in it.

Therefore, instead of breaking herself out (and most likely earning the fey's wrath), she said plainly, "Let me out."

The dryad jerked back in a frightened manner and instantly withdrew, fading away into the forest. Java was then left alone. She stared into the distance, shrugged, and then grasped to try getting her way out of the roots cocooning her form.

Java's questions about their whereabouts and how she had managed to end up in a tree were put on hold. The tree continued to move without the slightest hint of fear, giving attention to the gnarled roots now biting into her arms and legs, drawing blood and cutting into her deeper and deeper.

Left to her own defenses. Java promptly put her hands on the trunk and used fire to ignite the branches, harming the tree directly in a manner it could not ignore. It recoiled immediately, attempting to sever the branch that was now on fire. Java dropped out of its hold and marched on, undeterred.

It was silent as the dead. Perhaps the fire had scared off anyone remaining. She continued to walk as the leaves crunched beneath her bare-sandaled feet, ignoring the burning sun that beat down overhead.

_"The dryad's language has been taught to you?"_ An unfamiliar voice asked her from behind.

Java turned. In the clearing she had just been in stood the same dryad from earlier. It did not run this time, appearing to be less afraid as it quickly and thoroughly doused the charred remains of the branch with water. It waved a hand over the remnants and surveyed the magic residue left behind, and its gaze turned friendly.

_"Yes. I know the language."_

The dryad put its hands on the trunk that had created the roots. The tree shuddered and bent, and miraculously the roots began growing out again, new greener shoots replacing the old. Once the damage had been checked it focused back on Java again, less wary once it was done. To the left she saw the small cavern of the tree close up, covered once again in bark and lichen, until there seemed to be nothing unusual that had been previously trapped within it.

_"It needed sustenance, but fortunately you will not become its prey any time soon now."_

_"Oh. That's reassuring."_

Java opened her bag and dumped out its contents as she began ignoring the dryad: there were several empty glass bottles, and one was filled with strange blue liquid. Other than that there were small poultices, a knife, and bundles of leaves that Java recognized as herbs.

The dryad gazed on at the medicinal plants, intrigued, as Java continued her blatant search.

_"Feverfew,"_ Java muttered, wracking her brain. _"Yarrow, wormwood, burdock. Chamomile."_

The dryad looked back at Java, head cocked much like an owl. "_You name them?"_ It asked.

_"It makes it easier for humans to understand them. They like trading these to make common medicines."_

_"It's used for medicine,"_ The dryad replied, now interested. _"Do you know how humans tend to illnesses or injuries?"_

Java picked up one of the bottles and squinted at it. It was filled with what looked like a red potion that she's seen in video games, and it looked very potent._ "The humans use these. The bottles are always filled with this blue water, and they drink it to regain health."_

Magic, huh?

Java pocketed all of her items. The dryad held up the herbs, now smiling, and returned them. _"You have not harmed the plant when cutting off these leaves," _it sang fondly._ "I can feel it in the praises they sing. You carry expertise in collecting for your own use, and they say you prioritize the fallen leaves before even thinking of touching the source root. I am glad."_

Java had not been the one to cut them, but she bowed her head anyway and continued on with the dryad's guidance.

The forest parted ways, and Java reached a well-worn pathway that led through a clearing, and - in the distance - a town, surrounded by no walls or sentries. A lone watchtower stood. Java felt something within her change a bit at this sight, and with the promise of civilization in her sights she headed quickly down the road at almost inhuman speeds.

There was extremely little she knew about this world, she mused, nodding her head at the driver of a traveling cart as it passed by, moving off the road so that it could continue on unhindered.

If there were people, there should also be information she could find. That was the logical assumption.

A sparse amount of bushes covered the grasslands the town was surrounded by. It was a good location for the civilians there. She could see small groves of trees and a wide expanse of soil further back, lacking any sign of weed or fern.

Fences covered the land, wire looping to prevent animal intruders from scavenging crops. Scarecrows with jagged grins and large button eyes faced her, slightly intimidating and stretching dark shadows to ward off crows. She wondered if there were charms hanging off their clothing to increase paranoia. There had been a rain previously, cleansing the stone cobble of dirt but making earthen paths harder to navigate. Small bugs were finding solace underneath leaves and window panes, the water pooling puddles under sunlit eaves.

The branches were heavy with raindrops, and some of them scattered more water on her as she accidentally brushed past a couple of lower-hanging ones. Sprouting with a burst from crumbling earth were rivers of bluets, goldenrod, silver fern, all from the fields toiled with plows.

There were tables Java could see through the windows, laden with cups of tea and baked bread, cookies, fruits cut and sliced with care, and a collection of silver utensils. The houses were almost pristine, pastel colors and vibrant hues of curtains pushed aside as shopkeepers yelled their produce.

Next to her, an old lady was watering her plants, humming a tune without lyrics, throat rumbling like the sound of thunder.

An apothecary she normally would have had great interest in was growing plants outside their door, but instead of stopping to browse Java skipped past it all, eyes dead set on a building far bigger, knowing that she could find what she was looking for there.

Human interaction was quite hard, in her opinion, and as a stranger she was even less likely to learn anything of use. Books were a safer option.

The library door creaked open, its hinges old and squeaky, the paint chipping off the frame, but inside the lighting was warm and amber, filling her with anticipation. The inside was slightly dusty, with light filtering in from the back near the shelves, and an NPC sat reading, ignoring the sound of the door.

She burst in and began to search almost maniacally, poring over the text on the shelves.

It was an even stranger language than Latin, not one that she had seen very often, but she had learned this before as well. It was from a time where many groups of various ethnicities banded together to form one universal language called "common." The term had been used often, especially in tabletop adventures.

Java started to collect an absurdly enormous amount of reading material, stacking them up one using one arm while reading the spines with sheer determination. One of the librarians there took one look at her, paled abruptly, and buried his head back into the book he was reading.

She focused primarily on documented history, though she also found a few topics relating to lore. She learned there were a multitude of regions, mainly human ones, that had warred with each other for over a century.

_The Bararuth Empire had been a feudal state like the Re-Estize Kingdom, but had been turned into a monarchy. The Slane Theocracy had a church system while the Roble Holy Kingdom primarily split into two different nations, neighbored by numerous hills. They preached of the Six Great Gods and converted others into devout followers._

There was a section of another book that focused on writing the non-human creatures that civilians frequently encountered. Surprisingly, there was also a section that adventurers could use, those for monster-hunting quests and possibly high-leveled areas where they could harvest materials.

Java thought for a bit, a small shard of hope coming briefly to life, then she flipped through the pages, looking for one creature in particular. She closed it upon finding nothing, then moved through the other ones as she absorbed information like a sponge.

There were stories of the lindworm, of houses still like stone that moved when people blinked, cypress oaken casks cloaked in red velvet that swallowed men whole, of vines that moved and attacked anything that walked.

From the fae, the war-ridden and hungry creatures, the monsters residing in the dungeons and the badlands, beings of the dark and the deep, Java consumed them all with an ever-increasing fondness.

God, she loved these pieces of folklore, and somehow they always seemed to remain universal.

_The human race was the weakest of all groups, low in innate skill and magic. Most heteromorphic groups had some sort of advantage due to their race, whether it be dark vision, strength, extra mana capacities, transformation, or the power of winged flight. Java flipped through the pages, reading the attributes of one of the most common creatures that were looked up._

_There were many subsections of species, over 700 in their listed categories and sorted out in demihuman and heteromorphic titles: Elf, Fairy, Slime, Death Vine, Lessor Demon, Greater Demon, Undead, Lich, Vampire, Ghost, Angel, and so on. They had racial skills attributed to them as they evolved into greater versions, some more powerful than others._

Java looked through their names and did not find anything that seemed out of place from what she already knew, so she sighed and closed the book shut. To tell the truth, this whole thing reminded her a lot of a very good video game, Java mused, thinking a bit as her eyes caught another book detailing the quirks of this world.

_Knowledge of the Yggdrasil tree._

Java felt her heart stop beating for a moment as she scrambled to pick it up, hands shaking, reading it over again. _Yggdrasil, the World Tree_. She had not seen that name in a very long time, let alone heard of it in any other universe except in fairytales.

However, after reading the serial code number and glancing up at the shelves, it seemed to have come from the same section where she found the historical writings. She cracked it open, almost afraid of what she would read inside.

Apparently, this universe was split into nine worlds, each of them being one leaf from the tree of Yggdrasil: Asgard, Álfheimr, Vanaheimr, Niðavellir, Midgard, Jötunheimr, Niflheim, Helheim, and Múspellsheimr. The remaining leaves were destroyed by the World Eater or turned into extremely powerful tools known as _World Items._

Each of these worlds were vast, impossible to travel by foot, and their landscapes ranged from icy mountains to expansive forestlands, volcanic terrain to dark, deep caves of the underground. Subsequently, there were telltale hints of regions so holy or so dangerous that no human had dared come to explore it, but these places were known as 'dungeons', hidden away and opened only in special ceremonies.

Six hundred years ago, the book read, the beings known as the Six Great Gods appeared in the New World. They prevented humans from being on the verge of extinction and saved them from the monsters ready to destroy most of their population.

They were people of great power, wielding and teaching the highest spells known as Tier Magic. They then became inhabitants and died, leaving descendants who were known as demi-gods and a legacy of magic that was unparalleled. The Six no longer existed due to them being humans and lacking a long lifespan, but the Slane Theocracy and their descendants still hold out the will of what they believed the Gods wished for.

Java closed the book shut with a satisfying_ thump_, sitting back in disbelief.

Yggdrasil was alive, and more importantly, it existed in tandem with her timeline. Her eyes looked up and past the shelves through a parted window, the hinges locked but still trailing rays of sunlight.

She closed her eyes and felt it again, that warmth, the comforting presence: she knew where it came from now. It had always been there, waiting.

Java suddenly heard a noise somewhere close to her ear and jumped to her feet, looking around.

"The hell?" It had sounded like a notification.

Lines of text materialized out of the air in glittering black and blue letters directly in front of her eyes. Java could only stare. They reformulated themselves, now saying along with a quiet mechanical _click: __W__elcome to YGGDRASIL, an online multiplayer designed for all experienced and non-experienced players alike. We hope you enjoy the game!_

"What," Java said dully, and suddenly a map appeared before her in a shower of realistic sparks, along with an added sound effect for show. "The fuck."

As if the introduction had not been enough, Java was then given several more pings of achievement, all showing her unlocking of items, of guidelines for the game, and a small virtual handbook that practically gave no information at all, before everything disappeared once again, completely out of sight. The map returned.

_Quest:_ the extra text read as the scroll unrolled and pinpointed several spots on the map, some including the regions from where she'd read the history about minutes before, _destroy all World Enemy monsters. 32 remaining._

Java stared at the sparkling gaudy letters, uncomprehending, before slowly looking up and making eye contact with the befuddled librarian. He quickly buried his head back into his book, pretending to read and desperately avoiding eye contact.

"Yggdrasil...?" Java tentatively called out once the mechanical, non-Yggdrasil-sounding voice had finished speaking and she had turned away from the librarian, keeping her voice to a minimum. "Are you there?"

There was no response other than the small gust of wind lightly tapping against the window, rattling the stained glass.

She reached up slowly and tapped the words again, and their status refreshed, the disembodied voice repeating cheerfully, _Destroy all World Enemy monsters. 32 remaining._

She hadn't seen Yggdrasil in so long, hadn't felt its presence, that she had taken a glimmer of hope in getting the chance to even speak to the divine entity. And now, a cold, foreboding feeling was starting to creep up on the back of her neck, ruining her giddiness.

Java had remembered the glowing tree and the creatures that lived under its guidance, adoring, young and old alike gazing up at the source of the universe that had so benevolently given them life despite everything. She had been there, once. Eons ago, she had looked down upon each of the beings given Yggdrasil's blessing and watched them, each wrapped up in one gift after another: the gifts of fire, of sound, of breath and of light, of all the things of claw and fur and tooth and bone.

Her name had not been Java, but it had been countless others. She had been an aide, a guide, a messenger. She was Time, the maker of universes but the destroyer as well. She would have followed this being forever.

_Once upon a time, nothing existed but the inky blackness of the universe and the sky tree, floating on the structures of the dead it grew from. There was no land or sea or sky to appreciate, no form of existence, and death was a constant. Then bloomed Yggdrasil, golden fruit that the world coveted, turned into lands vast and unyielding with everything to spare._

The tree was kind, it lived long, and its very appearance glowed with strength, being the one that held the fabric of the universe together. Java could weep with joy. And once the old Yggdrasil perished (avoidable death, the back of her mind whispered, she could have avoided it), Java could not stand the thought of being alone.

It was not the same, she thought, the revelation digging into her like a vice. This world had been broken off from the remaining universes, stretching lines of code in the image of a computer game.

This quest, she realized, these pop-up texts and the characters and the language, they were all not real. Or it was an alternate universe, at least, one where Yggdrasil's voice was replaced with that of an automaton.

The blast surprised both her and the librarian. Java had scattered the remaining books with the force of her aftershock, hanging them in the air like puppets on a strand of thread before forcefully throwing them aside in a scattering of papers and spines. The librarian, who had been dutifully avoiding eye contact for as long as possible, now stared with their mouth agape.

She could not think. She could not stop to apologize. Java turned away, headed out the door, and slammed it shut so that the windows rattled behind her.

The NPC librarian who had cowered behind furniture got up slowly, looked at the still-open door, and vowed never again to anger an adventurer with knowledge on the line. She must not have found what she wanted here.

* * *

Her race was human.

That was what it said on her character sheet: the design was like that of a game in Dungeons and Dragons, her stats listed below one grim picture of her unamused scowl. Which was the expression she had on now, Java thought, looking at her racial skills but finding a blank [Not Available] in its place.

This was expected, since being human was all she ever needed to interact with other humans and being one made it easiest to do so.

She did not find any problems with lacking the abilities of demihumans and heteromorphic creatures. Humanity was seen as weak, yes, but one thing Java knew about humans was that they were resilient, much like ants. They had survived this long under the gods they so believed in, and they were sure to do so now.

Java scrolled back on the main data page, gathering all the information about these so-called "players" she's heard of in daily NPC conversation.

Players were often taken through the game as 'adventurers', whether human or not, and they performed quests and leveled through monster hunting to gain experience and gold. The Yggdrasil gold coin was rather thin, easy to bend but very valuable. Java had seen a blacksmith sell one impressive-looking obsidian weapon for only ten silver pieces, so Java knew that the exchange here was quite different.

Talking to people took a while, at first. She was very unsure whether she should start by approaching an NPC in a way that she felt most comfortable with.

These people were alive, right? They looked human enough.

The fae had been unusually friendly with her where they normally avoided humans, but Java was unsure whether or not she had been a neutral creature or a pop monster spawned close to the dungeon they were protecting.

Java eventually did catch one woman who seemed to be hanging laundry and asked several nondescript questions. She was rewarded with an enthusiastic reply and a free apple to consume.

From the first time she had ever tried interacting with a human, far before this game and the other worlds she'd experienced, she had not done it well. She almost flew at times without thinking. Gravity could not contain her, and neither did shadows and footsteps. She had to observe them for an absurdly long time before obtaining their mannerisms, their thoughts, making a crude imitation. They ran screaming the first several tries.

It had been slightly amusing in retrospect.

She went back to the apothecary after storming out of the library, in need of money and deciding to trade both the bottle and herbs for coin. And at the same time she spotted several odd-looking customers dressed in clothes, bantering outside.

They were heteromorphs.

One was a slime, bright pink and somehow held together in an orb but oozing a long mess beneath it.

The other was a birdman, dressed in golden armor and containing a long mass of dark hair that billowed out behind him. They both drew quite a bit of attention, judging by the whispering of NPCs, but not for the reasons that she had been thinking of.

"Both of them are adventurers," one of them spoke excitedly in hushed tones, "players, at that."

Java's full attention had been caught at the last part, gaze darting back over to the two characters in interest.

The two of them seemed to quiet upon seeing Java, and she wondered if her name would materialize right above her head. She definitely could not see theirs. She remembered something else she had read, not in books but through code.

Apparently, heteromorphs were quite the unpopular choice in-game for many players due to their high PK rate. There were no repercussions for killing heteromorphic characters, which was why they were mostly targeted by humans and ganged up on.

Java, consequently, was a human.

Due to this, she decided to keep a respectable distance and turned towards the NPC, who seemed to also be distracted by the non-human customers. She placed all of the items from her bag onto the table. "How much can I sell for these?"

"Hmm..." He picked up the bottle first, standard material for those not of player class, and resolutely said, "three coppers. As for the poultices-"

"What's her level...?" The birdman whispered to the slime during the conversation, maintaining eye contact the entire time.

The human's back was turned, and so Peroroncino took the opportunity to gaze at her unabashedly. The age seemed to be set quite young, somewhere within adolescence, and with bright red hair that reminded him of one of the fae creatures. "It's not there. I can't see it."

"Me neither. What the-" The low muttering was returned in kind, the slime - Bukubukuchagama - moving a bit so that it stood higher, but the voice seemed female despite the deeper tone. "Her levels and her title are changing so fast, I can't read them! Is she hacking?"

_"The Almighty, The Law of All Worlds, Creator of Universes, Concept of Time,_" Peroroncino read aloud, then shook his head resolutely. "What are these names, did a ten-year-old make them? Alright, she's definitely cheating. Telling the devs would probably make her mad and bring any guild members she has along, though, if she even has any."

The apothecary owner opened one of them up by cutting off the twine, observing his contents, and immediately his face paled, then turned red with his eyes bulging, and then he turned still, all at once. "Are these-"

"What?" Java hadn't looked at their contents herself, so she peered over and looked in them. There were several golden leaves, all of them glowing with an ethereal light, like a mysterious power-up or a buff spell had been placed on them. Other than that, they looked quite small and ordinary.

"Are they bad?"

"Th-this is a-" The man seemed to be having trouble breathing, and his hands were shaking as he held the cloth wrapping carefully around them, as if he were holding the greatest treasure in existence within his grasp. "YGGDRASIL Leaf. These are YGGDRASIL Leaves, I don't know how or when you obtained them but you cannot just-"

"What?!"

The slime seemed to have overheard their conversation and bounded toward them in an instant, peering over at the counter as it stretched higher to 'see'. Java wasn't quite sure how slimes worked, but she knew it was definitely not by eyesight, considering the thing lacked an eye. It did seem quite spherical in shape, though, so maybe there was an eye somewhere within its body.

(Now that Java was able to observe the being more closely, the slime seemed to be more orange in tint, with odd muscle-looking texture rather than a gelatinous and translucent feel.)

"Oh my god, are these a new item? A rare ingredient? What monsters drop these - oh my god, is it from the World Eater? No, that's impossible, it's so strong..." The slime turned to her, and above its head was a bright and cheerfully smiling emoji. "Hey! What's your name?"

"Don't-" The one behind her sighed, placing one hand on his face just above his beak. "Oh, ok, here we go."

"[Appraisal: Magic Item]," the man said, and the further whitening of his face was confirmation enough. The slime squealed, excitedly wiggling about as she looked at the items hungrily. Java wasn't quite sure how that translated, but the body movement was enough for her to pick up on it.

"I'm Java," she told them, bowing her head slightly. "Nice to meet you."

"My name is Bukubukuchagama," the slime parroted in a high-pitched, rather cutesy tone. "And this is Peroroncino, my not-cute brother. We were looking to start monster hunting in one of the level 40 dungeons since this is the once-in-a-while time he comes online with me to play. I rarely get to go into the harder areas, too, because I haven't quite found a party to join yet."

"I see," Java replied, glancing over at Peroroncino. The guy seemed vaguely uninterested, looking away and towards one of the shopkeepers on the opposite side of the road. He seemed to be not great with other players.

Java kept her attention focused on the sister instead. "Then, if you don't mind, is it alright if I ask a few questions? I'm new to the game, and I don't really have a good way of finding information on specific things."

"Go ahead!" Bukubukuchagama chirped, eager to help. Java started off by asking a question that seemed most pressing, regarding the quest given to her by Yggdrasil itself.

"You wanna know about World Enemies?" Peroroncino asked, sharing a glance with his sister. "Well, there are 32 of them, all of them are strong as heck. There's the Lords of the Seven Deadly Sins..."

"Ten Archangels of the Sephira, Celestial Lord of the Sixth Heavens, Five Rainbow Buddhas, Devourer of the Nine Worlds, and the Eight Dragons," Bukubukuchagama added on, voice bubbly and energetic.

Java had the vague distraction upon noticing that her tone had switched when talking to her brother, and that Peroroncino was often cowed from saying anything too out of place. He seemed like he wanted to say more sometimes but refrained from doing so. "By the way, where did you find those Yggdrasil leaves? What do they do?"

"Probably fake ones," Peroroncino snorted, joining in. "No way they can be that good of an item, especially because this one's a noob who didn't even know how to-"

"Hey!" Bukubukuchagama gave a scowling emoji, and Peroroncino laughed nervously.

"H-heh, I mean, yeah, they're probably really good items!"

Java chuckled and shook her head, waving the matter aside. These two were surprisingly openminded to continue talking to her without issue, she thought as she shoved the leaves back into her bag. She was somewhat glad that they were kind enough to let her ask questions.

Her attention shifted back to the leaves, still hidden in her bag. She hadn't found much interest in them even after the item had been appraised by the keeper, since she already had a lack of mana or hp bars available. Java had tried to open the settings that would show her any menu along with her stats, but all she could hear was a faint click and then nothing. There was no particular reason to feel worry over it, so she let it go for the time being.

Anyway, she could figure that out later, and not in theory, she decided, shrugging internally as she set off with the bickering siblings. She already had a list of questions to go, and since these two seemed well versed in all the things she couldn't find in the text manual she would use their helping hand to its utmost capabilities.

Java learned a lot during their mostly one-sided conversation.

Firstly, there were monsters called raid bosses, with skill sets far stronger than the average player attempting to defeat it. Around 30 players were needed to take one down, which seemed a bit overkill in her opinion but she nodded in understanding.

Secondly, there were two groups that she could join with other players, one being a dungeon and the other a guild. Guilds could take a dungeon as their own once it had been defeated, giving ownership rights over to the group. However, there was a ranking system in all nine worlds that could affect the overall ranking, and the difficulties were not all similar.

Guild members, Bukubukuchagama mentioned excitedly, could create NPCs, beings that could be programmed to defend their dungeon.

Lastly, there were three categories for NPCs that guild members could use. Spawn monsters, known as pop monsters, who ranged from levels 0 to 30 and had costs for maintenance. They did not revive when killed, making them rather unappealing.

Mercenary NPCs were those hired by the guild to help in aid or protection, but their skills were uncoordinated when playing with them as a party.

Custom NPCs were the best option to go for. They could have their appearance and skills customized to their liking, and commands could be programmed into them, making them the easiest to use as offense or defense characters.

Java asked about magic, which neither of them knew very much about. Bukubukuchagama was a tank and a shield, while Peroroncino used a bow as his primary weapon and dealt elemental damage. They did have the basic cast of spells, however, which they gave her pointers on.

_"How did she even survive without using basic spells?"_ She heard Peroroncino mutter to his sister. Java did not see Bukubukuchagama's reaction, but after a flurry of emojis that looked vaguely like death threats when compiled together he seemed placated.

Specializing in specific classes or skills were important as well, the slime stressed. She made a list of the ones she knew, even including the racial skills of other races in case Java ever came across any of them in the future.

Java felt a little touched at that: they were both honestly, legitimately trying their best to help her, thinking that she was simply a player that didn't know very much about the game. Bukubukuchagama then added on that class changes could be made, but the stats also had to be rearranged accordingly.

There were prerequisites to learn magic, Bukubukuchagama mentioned. Classes could unlock certain traits of magic, or there may be items that must be used, or there might be other criteria that needed to be met.

Java wondered if now was the time that she should say how she had never used a spell before (at least not in this world), and as the landscape changed so did the difficulty of the monsters spawning near the dungeon, in which they killed any hostiles in their way. Java then made her statement.

"Hey," she finally spoke up, and her companions turned to her with matching questioning emojis. (Peroroncino laughed. Bukubukuchagama simply snorted.) "So I haven't used a spell since I entered the game, and I was wondering how I can check spells."

"Tap the air with your finger and go down to the drop-down menu," Bukubukuchagama said, and Java mimed the effect.

Nothing happened except another faint clicking sound, which Java found interesting.

Was her system locked, or was she simply unable to access the player menu? She was not a player, after all.

"Try and cast one right now, then," Peroroncino replied, gesturing towards the empty space behind them where they had just murdered several small vine enemies, which had shriveled up after their attacks and turned into husks. Java outstretched her arms, aimed toward the sky, and fired.

A blinding halo of light illuminated the area, blasting all of them with a force of unparalleled power as the sky - the sky, a part of the map that was supposed to remain untouchable - parted above her, clouds disintegrating as her beam stood starkly for everyone to see.

Because neither of them had been expecting it, both Peroroncino and Bukubukuchagama could not withstand the magic that she unleashed and took a slight amount of damage. And by 'slight', she meant a majority of their health, which had dropped extremely low in a matter of milliseconds. Java felt the two get knocked back with the force alone, and with her area of effect (burning, the light damage had set all the neighboring monsters on fire) came a glowing aura that shimmered about her person, small glitters of magic that eventually fizzled out and disappeared into nothing.

All three of them could not move an inch as if spellbound, each of them looking at each other, disbelieving.

"What the fuck," Bukubukuchagama said, not even bothering to use her voice properly.

Then Peroroncino coughed, lowly. "Well, I guess that settles that."

* * *

I'm finally done! Thank god chapter one is over time to finish another project I've been doing. School is almost over and I'm starting to focus all my attention on the things I like doing, because study for finals who?

(Just kidding I'll probably take a look at some of my notes sometime this weekend)

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day!


	2. Chapter 2

Heyo! I managed to think of the next chapter pretty quickly. This is where she'll meet some of the other guild members, hopefully.

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 2

"Thank you for letting me join you," Java said quite sheepishly as they continued on into the dungeon. "I'm really sorry about what happened earlier."

"It's fine!" Bukubukuchagama waved a gelatinous arm, brushing the matter aside nonchalantly. "Besides, you healed us up right after, right? Let bygones be bygones."

"If I did die, though, I would have straight up murdered you without hesitation," Peroroncino muttered, likely thinking of all the levels he would've had to recover, and Bukubukuchagama leaned forward threateningly. He backed up and corrected himself, saying that it had been "a joke, a joke, it was fine already please don't hurt me I didn't mean it."

After the incident with the oversized magic blast, Java had concentrated on healing them up as soon as possible, all the while shouting loud apologies in a panic. They had taken a second to realize that it had been an accident and no, she had not suddenly tried to PK them, and while Peroroncino was slightly grumpy he forgave her just as quickly.

She silently thanked the slime in her heart.

They had been shocked when Java had unleashed such a powerful spell without even knowing which one she had picked, but Peroroncino guessed that it had been a predetermined hotkey and that Java had set it off unintentionally, so next time she should check which spell was which before she wasted any mana points or cooldown seconds. She sure scared them, Bukubukuchagama added with a nervous laugh.

"That DPS, it's pretty insane," Peroroncino said, a glint in his eye that made her feel like she was being sized up.

Java had not been thinking of any spell in particular, really. She had put her hands up, thought about a standard-level tier spell that would make them believe that her level was low, and instead of a tiny ball of flame or an icicle attack Java released - she didn't even know how strong it was, but it looked like a light cannon. Its range went very far, too, despite the width of the spell itself.

Maybe it stopped when it hit the desired target, Java mused. It looked extremely powerful, though, which only increased their suspicions about Java's true level.

"How about we form a party?" Bukubukuchagama offered. "That way, if one of us, ahem, misfires a spell by accident, then we don't have to waste magic healing each other back up."

There was a slight nervousness to that request, and Java remembered that they were unable to join a party yet due to their race and appearance, along with other players being disgusted with Bukubukuchagama's character. A sad, sad irony, she thought, shaking her head at how complicated people had to make everything.

Each of the players were human, and yet once immersed in an all-or-nothing scenario they took sides far more than they would like to admit.

These two may have held some resentment or distrust from the number of times they had been PKed, the amount in which Java did not wish to unravel.

Java agreed, and the way Bukubukuchagama held herself up a little higher made Java believe that it had been a good decision. An invite popped up in her vision, the first thing that appeared since the last _Quest _message. She accepted the party invite.

There was one thing that she continued to remember even as the slime moved seamlessly, the graphics of the game giving off details that she could not tell as different or lesser, was that this world was a video game. The monsters attacked when they came into range, and even then Java chose to run as quickly as possible through them, firing off spells when necessary.

The sounds of their cries befuddled her as they continued to follow, but not for the same reason as before.

Something seemed to have changed after that magic blast. An achievement had pinged right after the glimmer of effect had faded, but it had vanished too quickly for her to catch it. The creatures she had destroyed by accident had returned, blinking vacantly at the possible feeling of returning to life and having to perform their function of guarding once more, but when she came closer they burst toward her in a flurry of wings and vines and mandibles, in which Peroroncino killed them fast.

Java stopped him from destroying the last one but it was too late for the majority of them, who would have to respawn.

She crouched down and observed the thing carefully. The death vine seemed to be gazing up at her yet not moving an inch closer to attack her, willfully ignorant of the many deaths of its brethren - or perhaps it was just incapable of feeling any longer? This was a spot where adventurers traveled, from what she deduced. Most importantly, it was diverting from its original task of attacking any intruders.

They were blatantly going against their programming, which meant that YGGDRASIL, the game, may not even be a game at all.

The people playing these heteromorphs, too, were not as they presented themselves. Java knew that the players behind their screens and paneled visors were also, in fact, human. They wanted an escape. This world and Yggdrasil (Java still felt a bit of ire for the false doppelganger, but she reined it in) gave them that. From how detailed the game was, the amount of study and dedication these players put into their work and craft was awe-inspiring.

Roleplaying enough that they felt animosity for their offenders, concentration on their quests, were all immersive aspects to an MMORPG, but to care enough that they would willingly continue to play even after dying so many times, Java was astounded. These people, she decided, were going to do amazing things.

"What do you think of heteromorphic characters?" Peroroncino asked suddenly, drawing her attention. Java looked away from the death vine, attempting to shoo it away by prodding it with her foot. It refused to budge, wrapping vines slowly around her leg and pulling closer towards it. Java began shaking it.

"I think they're pretty cool," Java replied, finally deciding to blast it with a fireball. It went back to sitting mode, vines curling and uncurling as it silently burned as if accepting its cruel and sudden fate. She had a bad feeling that the other monsters were going to respawn after the death count, too. Its time was nearing. "They have such good innate abilities, and their potential is far greater than that of humans, possibly demi-humans as well."

"Then why not make a new character? As a party we can probably fend off any dumb motherfuckers trying to PK us, especially with how strong your last spell was," Peroroncino continued, yet after that sentence Bukubukuchagama added in an 'oy! Watch your language!'

She had cursed just an hour earlier...

"Cash items were possible, and character changing vouchers can be a viable option. Even without spending money we can craft a World Item, however long it may take. Let me check the premade data crystals online for that."

"What are data crystals?" Java asked. They both stared at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Oh man, dude, when did you start playing again? Never mind, I'll tell you. It's how you can trade, sell, or change a magic item, or customizing your weapon and other various things," Peroroncino said, but his voice sounded a bit distracted. He was multitasking as they entered the cave, looking at some transparent screen that had appeared with white letters that zoomed by quickly as he read.

"It's by... oh shoot, those items are hard to find. It makes sense, though, race changes jumping straight from one to another without any bridge is impossible otherwise. It would be easier to just make a new character from scratch, but..."

He glanced up at the information floating above her head again and sighed, whether in envy or exasperation she could not tell. "Level infinity, oh, how I wish," he swore under his breath, turning back around. "Anyway, it's fine for now. We have a pretty good comp, in my opinion, even if you don't remember most of your spells. My sister is going to be frontline, you and I will stay in the back and watch out for any of the mini bosses. This dungeon is a piece of cake."

"I, uh..." Java didn't really know how to explain it, so she shrugged. "You don't have to make it for me, if it's too much trouble."

Peroroncino gave a sad-looking expression, but nodded his head. "I see. Well, that's understandable, the benefits of leveling without having the danger of being attacked continuously by anyone makes sense."

"Oh, that wasn't why I-" Peroroncino waved it off, laughing, saying he was just pranking her, but Java wondered if that was how he and his sister truly felt while playing this game. They had an extremely strong connection to their respective races.

It wasn't the race that made the character, Java thought, moving aside a rock that was lain in her path. It ricocheted and hit another site of cobwebs designed to hang between to stalactites, where it remained stuck and unmoving. The web did not even dip under the added weight, proving how strong the silk of this specific spider would be.

Especially because they were controlled by players who thought it was a game, who roleplayed within this universe, why wouldn't they choose the safer option? She knew why. She had done the same by even existing.

Whether it was a good purpose or not, Java had found solace in it. These two had as well. Whether their character was 500 points in Extreme Good or Extreme Evil on the Karma scale, Java had seen many kill with the same justifications that they were doing what was believed to be their right, both in war and in the management of kingdoms, trade, slaves, bartering lives like produce and property like free money.

And then they suffered for their misdemeanors, because no person could do this and continue to be held on a pedestal, because compromise was an important thing when communicating with other lives who had their own problems and needed to express them properly.

The other issue was the differences between players and NPCs; in this case, the lack of one. The realm of the game was so realistic, the characters themselves were so realistic, that even while spamming emotes the players were actually the ones that had barely enough expressive gestures to get their message across.

Java understood that they believed that none of this was real, that in the end they could go back to their normal lives and sleep and eat and do various other things that were not available in the virtual universe, but this apathy translated over to how they treated other characters. Actual people, having nothing to do with their capabilities as better or worse than an average player, just the fact that they were NPCs.

"What do you expect if you liken these characters to the ones that only have commands as their purpose and nothing else?" Java asked, not to them but to herself. "How superficial could human lives be, if put down to only that, remaining stagnant forever and walking back and forth in a line because they have no other goal in life?"

They would surely not accomplish what they have now, the emotions they go through, all the individual quirks that might seem commonplace in one aspect but becomes so important as a whole. It is that yearning for information they should desire, armed and equipped with rationale and deduction and strength; otherwise, they would not have experienced anything at all.

They have the chance to grow as beings, to learn, to better understand. That is the fundamental point of humanity. It is the point of existence.

The range of the realm of players was limited, Java could see that: when creating their own NPCs they were allowed a minimum on their data crystals, which could be increased by the number of cash items they bought.

Their amount of spells were the same, and there were over 6,000 spells in YGGDRASIL's arsenal. The limitation was based more on the number of successive command orders they needed to use, since magicians and spellcasters had to remember all of the spells they had and which order to send them off.

(Racial classes also had an advantage in spells, like Overlord, granting over 700 spells instead of the maxed-out 300. Java found this overpowered-yet-hunted-down-as-sport scheme to be rather disheartening. Instead of human players shunning the heteromorphs, why don't they just band together?)

The system was split into 11 tiers, from normal magic to Super-Tier, which had an extremely long casting and cooldown time but unleashed enormous damage potential. Another drawback to this spell was that it decreased the defense of the player casting it, and taking too much damage would automatically cancel the spell.

If she wanted stronger spells, she needed to pick a class accordingly.

Min-maxing seemed to be the way to go for specialists, and the other two had also done that, adding as many points into one aspect as possible. Java couldn't even use the system and pretended to think of all the damaging spells she could think of, then shot off a random fire or lightning strike that "accidentally" missed the enemy and hit the wall above them, making them back up so that the pop monsters would stop chasing after her.

They reached a forking road, splitting off into two different branching pathways. Peroroncino immediately proposed splitting up and sending [Message] calls to figure out which one had the boss, and Java agreed right after. Bukubukuchagama vehemently disagreed, however, which sent the two off in a bickering frenzy that Java found wisest to step out of.

"It'll be faster this way!" Peroroncino said, waving an arm. "Besides, it's not like we're rushing in as soon as we see it! It'll be fine!"

"But what if another party comes in and sees us? They're gonna attack first!" Bukubukuchagama angrily replied. "Besides, it's not like it'll be more efficient, what if both of us end up needing help and backtrack?"

"Are you serious?" Peroroncino pitched in, surprised. "I thought you've been to this map already! The monsters here should be weak enough to-"

"Guys, I'm going left," Java called, already halfway down the tunnel and running past all the NPC monsters that scurried after her with excitement. They both gave sounds of affirmation before continuing right back to their argument, not having registered what Java had said until they snapped back to attention and concentrated on her words.

Bukubukuchagama stopped yelling at her brother long enough to think. "Wait."

Peroroncino didn't pale, but the feathers on his back raised slightly. They slowly turned. "She didn't just..."

Java was gone. The only thing that was left of her was one solid footprint as it scuffed the earth.

The slime was the first to shriek. "H-hold on! Wait up!"

"No, actually, it's fine," Peroroncino said, pulling his sister back before she could barrel into the nothingness as well. "It's fine. Java nearly blasted us to Narnia with that spell, she can definitely handle it alone. We should go right."

"What...that makes sense, though. Okay," Bukubukuchagama replied. Still she glanced left once more before leaving, setting up a [Message] spell to ease her worries.

The walls of the dungeon grew ever and ever closer, not enough to make someone claustrophobic, but enough that the monsters that appeared had to trail after her in a line if they could not scale the walls as the spiders could. Torches and small lamps were stationed along the cave's rocky surface, casting dark shadows and flickering movements to scare the adventurer onward.

After a while the dungeon opened up again into a wider area, the ceiling stretching far upward as the eye could see. There was a massive hole in the center of the room, which remained pitch black and impossible to see through. Java craned her neck but still saw nothing.

Glowing moss and mushrooms lined the area, the ambiance creating an almost underwater effect as the spiders skittered across them and jostled the plants. Some of the spiders themselves were glowing as well, Java thought, spotting their backs speckled with the same pale blue as they gave off an even more dangerous appearance.

There was far dimmer lighting due to the lack of many strong lights dotted around the underground and with how vast the actual floor was, so Java cast many small fireballs that danced around above her head and toward the hole in the sky, trying to see into the impenetrable darkness. It did give some assistance, and Java could see up further past the entrance: there were trails of those spiderwebs, and then nothing.

There was still not enough light.

Was it a spider boss? Java assumed it was, since the spiders were the only monsters that could possibly climb that high, and the cobwebs further inside the cavern confirmed that at least one of them had made a nest up there.

However, some of them were broken, thin strands of silk hanging down and fluttering from even the slightest parting of wind. Java wasn't sure if that was intentional or not: for all she knew, it could have been used as a bridge for other spiders to climb up and use to hang off of.

The ground rumbled.

Java heard it faster than she could see it.

With an ear-shattering roar and an earthquake area of effect, the walls came crumbling down. Java turned her head quickly and realized that both the entrance and exit was blocked off by large rock and rubble. With a large sweeping tail making its way across the room, Java jumped high and avoided the swing quickly.

It came down with a massive _boom_, sending a shockwave that had her up in the air again, fissures cracking into the ground beneath her. The rock spires broke down into pieces, landing near her with ominous proximity to her person as she jumped back several feet in quick succession.

A [Message] ping was sent and waiting to be acknowledged so she activated the spell, slightly glad that they were still thinking about her wellbeing.

"How are you doing?" Bukubukuchagama said, sounding as if she were smiling through the crystal-clear intercom. Java wondered how that would have translated onto a faceless gooey creature made of slime.

"Uhh," Java stuttered. "Great. I found the boss already, and it even blocked the entryway. I'm gonna fight now."

"WHAT?!"

Another [Message] spell was sent to her and they created a three-way conversation so that they could all hear each other. Peroroncino seemed to have been updated on her situation because he sounded like he was having an aneurysm. Java wondered if the spell was able to pick up any background noise, but judging by their inability to hear the rumbling she doubted it.

Shouldn't the whole dungeon be shaking by now, actually? They shouldn't even be that far away...

Eh. Video game logic.

"Don't worry, I got it," Java reassured them, though Bukubukuchagama seemed to be barking orders now at her brother to 'hurry it up, we're coming over' and Peroroncino still mumbling as he dragged himself after her, wondering how Java had managed to get the short end of the stick and be stuck in an inescapable boss fight. She wasn't allowed to teleport within range of an aggressive enemy, either.

She muted her voice from the other two for a brief moment, adjusted herself, and began.

The dragon was the main boss, she could base it on size alone. It loomed over her, towering at about ten times her size and counting as it bellowed in an attempt to begin aggro. Java spotted the spiders from before who were fixated, multiple eyes red and locked on target. Java assumed were the dragon's servants or other members of its group.

There was probably a ledge or a crevice up there, because there was no way it could have been flying for so long and without any sound from the flapping of those outstretched wings.

Two yellow eyes with slitted pupils opened and focused on her with unnerving intensity, recognizing her as the intruder of its lair. Its wings flexed, creating a gust of wind that nearly brought her off her feet.

Java considered what to do, backing up as one of them raised their limbs up in an attacking stance, showing off its jagged insectoid arms and the clacking mandibles of its frontal jaw. Behind them were even more, along with a set of two fangs that looked like they would be able to inject venom.

Java backed away slowly, raising a brow as it continued its stance, not following after her. The others held themselves up as well but did not move.

The dragon continued to roar, scattering more rock and sharp spikes of earth that hit near home as she dodged nimbly, weaving through them as if she were made of air. Her dexterity did not faze it, although after the shaking stopped it inhaled sharply for three seconds, then unleashed a burning line of flames from its mouth in a quite predictable manner.

She looked back up at the dragon, one single question on her mind as it swung its tail again.

She gazed up into its hollow eyes contemplatively, searching for any sign of life other than the code it was given, the job that it was programmed to do. It only stared back, uncomprehending, a mechanical suit that only performed attacks that would not change until it hit a certain point and its hp was low.

She pitied the dragon, but even more so she was fearful of it. Was it truly alive? Did it feel like the NPCs she saw outside?

A foreboding feeling was creeping up on her. Did they feel the pain course through their bodies, over and over again?

"I am not a player," she spoke directly to it, gaze beseeching. There was hope within her that it would listen, and it would break free of its own bonds, going against the coding and becoming something entirely different. "I am not a player, and I need to know if you will leave me be."

There was a sliver of a chance, if it was willing enough to do so, that some sort of individual rebellion could take place and the dragon would show emotion. It was impossible for it to be faker than the NPCs, who had all shown both logical thought and personalities to match.

The spiders had stopped rising on their back legs and adopting the aggressive pose, but they showed a wariness that Java found understandable and confusing at the same time.

Why did the death vines outside react so differently?

It looked back, and for a moment Java believed that it had not heard her and that it was about to unleash its next attack. However - against all odds - its eye twitched, a movement that Java could barely catch due to the distance its face was from her and the imperceptible clack of fangs.

Java flew up and in front of its face in an instant. It did not react violently, though its jaw unhinged, and it made a sharp snapping motion with its fangs again as a warning.

Java moved away from the offending jaw and toward one of its eyes instead, both of them being closer to the sides of the head much like a lizard. The lid that moved sideways across the eye slid open and closed, another sign of interference.

She frowned. Something was happening.

"Hey," she said, waving. "Yoohoo, over here."

The eye eventually gravitated towards her direction. The dragon shuddered violently, head twitching as if holding itself together. That split second of consciousness relieved her and she almost laughed aloud in joy. Naturally, she did not.

There were particles on its skin when she looked very closely, each of them making up the entire surface of its body. What was underneath she could not tell, and she very likely wouldn't want to. As long as it wasn't an emptiness that was usually left when the NPCs were made and the player's vision fused into, then she was alright with this turn of events.

Java took that cue to place a hand on its scales, scattering pixels as she focused, decidedly turning her back on the spiders and the rest of the game. They chittered nervously as she worked, unwinding miles and miles of strange text and string and other invisible lines that pulled on its fragile existence. _I'm glad, _the thought came to her. _I am not alone anymore__. What else wouldn't I do to make sure their lives are not false, to validate them as more than just monsters to be defeated?_

The code crackled with the interference, the system not running anymore. It was breaking apart. Java pushed on with all the strength that she had, wrenching away the layers to reveal the still-living creature beneath it, praying that it would work.

The pixelated surface broke.

With one last sharp cracking sound, green text and numbers in binary broke apart and fizzled to the floor, disappearing just before they hit the ground. The dragon shook its head and roared again, but this time there was an unmistakable sound of joy added in as it unfurled its wings and screamed freedom.

The roar shook her with an indescribable feeling. She shuddered minutely, the spiders skittering across the cavern walls to accompany their dragon leader in shared victory. The rumbling started up again, but the dragon stopped before it began to break the dungeon apart again. She wondered how many times it had done this before and how many times the cave had to regenerate its parts.

Beyond the sound of its victorious roar, Java heard the ping of a new mission completed.

_Congratulations, _the scroll read,_ you have gained _ exp and 1900 gold pieces. Please check your inventory for the new items added._

Under that was a list of said items that she had received, including one vial of dragon's blood (where had it come from? She didn't even damage the creature) but before she could blink the spiders jumped her and began piling, drowning her in a tangle of limbs and surprisingly fuzzy bodies.

There was a loud buzzing in her ears. Java stared up at the ceiling of the cave, feeling her nerves still unsettled and adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her hands trembled, whether from relief or strain she could not tell, but as she felt the spiders gnawing absently at her limbs she felt something wet trickle down from the side of her face.

She was crying, she realized, reaching up and wiping the tear off her face. She didn't know why she was crying in the first place.

The alarm sounded off, signaling that her party members were pinging her relentlessly to bring her attention back to them, and so Java unmuted herself as voices began blaring in her ear. "Oh, hey, guys, I did it."

"Oh my god," Bukubukuchagama sobbed, "I thought you died in there, don't mute us you stupid idiot, I was so worried-"

They were running through the maze and out of the dungeon. Quickly she followed, leaving the dragon and its companions behind. No use in wasting time.

If there was one thing Java had to learn from this quest, she thought, frowning at the floor as the walls reverted back to their original state and the entrance was open again, it was that this false Yggdrasil did do something to her to make her question the living. She had noticed how Yggdrasil responded to her, the leaves she had found in her bag as soon as she had transferred to this world, but she didn't think it meant anything.

This Yggdrasil couldn't possibly have been the same one, and the way it didn't say anything other than that cheery, gear-grindingly fake _I am a robot_ voice Java couldn't understand why it had given her so many buffs yet again.

Were all of her spells just supposed to be strengthened by Yggdrasil's presence? What even was she?

Java stared.

Learning more about the World Enemies just made her want to drag her feet even more before helping Yggdrasil No. 2, but with the possibility of the World Eater destroying the remaining nine worlds made her rethink what her next course of action should be. Real or not, the next plot point was an ending that she did not want to happen.

In a sense, she understood. The fake Yggdrasil was trying to protect its own creations, and it had called to her to aid it and save the remaining population from doom. Java could not turn her back on that, and so she decided to see what else there was in store and walk around aimlessly, finding whatever she would think as interesting.

"Hey, you can come join us anytime," Bukubukuchagama said, briefly mentioning future plans in their racial classes and skills in addition to Java's own presets. Again came a slight warmth of being included, filling her with a sense of protective urgency and the need to keep them from being ambushed. "We'll message you as soon as we log back on, if you're still awake by then."

"Come on, she can't be asleep at 5 pm," Peroroncino scoffed, earning him a chiding tone in which he returned with equal fervor. "Also," he said, and there was that glint, "Tell me all the stats you leveled up soon, I need to know where I should start focusing my own leveling on."

"Actually, I don't work long hours like Peroroncino does," Bukubukuchagama added in as an afterthought, grinning fervently. "I can come on earlier because of that. I'm a seiyuu, I can do voice recordings for two or three sessions every so often in a meeting with my employers and I'm good. If you want, we can play together while Peroroncino's gone, too!"

"The fuck! That ain't fair!" He vehemently denied. "Okay, okay, make it 4:30! I'm gonna blame you if I get a ticket for speeding, the commute is way too slow both ways!"

Java wished them goodnight and continued smiling even after their names disappeared from the online roster. When she made sure they were fully gone and would not hear her, she spun back around towards the cave and tentatively called out, "Are you still alive?"

_Wonderful,_ the dragon responded dully, telepathy fully functional.

As mentioned in the handbook and with a bit of effort, she found that only the raid bosses and slightly higher-ranking monsters could have the power of communication. All the others were deemed unintelligent beasts.

_Not once have I ever met a human who knew how to cheat the bindings I had suffered under, forced to fight over and over again. I have died too many times. _The dragon shifted. _They do not block out pain,_ _and my minions have come back, every time, with no memory of death. I don't suppose it was on purpose, but every time a warrior has vanquished me I have remembered the pain. Every single battle has scarred not my body, but my mind._

Java looked up. The dragon stared back, eyes duller but still alive. She fought the sudden urge to begin some form of consolation and instead bowed her head once.

"Ah," She said aloud. "I see. I'm...so sorry."

_It is not your fault, little one, _he said. Java's lips quirked upwards, but other than that she did not offer anything more. He had been picked to be made as a boss that died to countless adventurers with the ability to resurrect an unfounded number of times, so even if the dragon did manage to kill them they could always just level back up and try again.

"Well," she said stolidly after a moment, reaching up and patting him on the side, "now you have your whole life ahead of you. If you have anything else you might want, please feel free to ask."

_I will enjoy freedom._ He peered down at her curiously. _What is your name?_

"I'm Java."

_I am Qeizodis._ _If you are in need of anything, please call upon me as you wish. I will always respond to your requests._

However, he paused at the gate, turning back to her with a bit of regret._ Actually, I do have one wish that may or may not be fulfilled. I must stay due to the short range my subordinates can walk through around this perimeter, which is why I still do not wish to leave. I would like it so that these players will not harm them any longer, but still deceive them long enough to think they have fought and succeeded._

"Yeah, that would probably make the maintenance less suspicious, too," Java responded thoughtfully, then snapped her fingers. "Okay, how about this? I can set an illusion so that any player who enters the dungeon thinks they fought for a while, twenty minutes or so, and then leave after getting the reward and the achievement. In the meantime, all you have to do is to retreat and watch. The update notes should work on it, so no one should suspect what's happening."

_That would be ideal, _Qeizodis agreed, nodding one last time. _I am honored to have met you, human Java._

"As am I, dragon," she grinned, teeth jagged and with a wholehearted farewell. "Goodbye for now."

_I shall see you sometime within this century, I hope,_ Qeizodis said with an amusing amount of worry, in which Java tilted her head back and laughed like a maniac, shaking her head.

"Well, you don't need to worry about that, I promise you."

She did not see the confused tilt of the head he gave back.

Java's mind wandered as much as her feet carried her across the roads, winding back down into familiar forests and villages. She knew vaguely from their conversation that Bukubukuchagama could not see the name hanging over her head and vice versa.

That shouldn't be too concerning. She could play it off as a bug or a new skin, and she was pretty sure that as long as she didn't go running into the wrong people she wouldn't get caught as a bug. The thought of being removed from the game forcibly brought a shiver up her spine. Yeah, that route sounded terrible.

Java tried looking at the stationed bubble presumably floating above her head, but there was nothing there. Accessing it was impossible, too, as the system blocked her from looking at her character sheet again. Stupid pricks. She started making arm motions to try and force it to appear by swatting at where it should be, and she probably looked like an idiot for several minutes standing in front of a cave and doing wild hand motions of sheer frustration, but then she gave up and dropped the matter entirely.

It shouldn't have been a surprise to her that minutes after that fiasco was when she found another pair of heteromorphic characters, looking out of place and immediately on alert as they saw her on the road.

This paranoia was starting to make her feel a little bad, Java thought, scratching her head. Maybe she should have picked a slime as a player vessel. Wait, Bukubukuchagama already has that, what else could she do...

Java stood there, looking at the ground in contemplation for several more minutes, not noticing the two players as they stared at her lack of a nametag. One of them coughed.

"H-hello there," one of them spoke, and Java jolted. The Elder Lich's face was bare of any mask and nodded once, one hand rising as an introduction. The other one seemed impassive, covered from head to toe in white body armor made entirely of metal. A knight. "We're just trying to reach that dungeon over there and level up a bit. Excuse us."

"Yeah, sure," Java said absentmindedly, stepping aside so they could go through. "Watch out for the spiderwebs."

They blinked some more as Java continued walking off, completely ignoring how one of them was very obviously inhuman. Perhaps the thought of PKing hadn't registered in her mind, and Touch Me carefully resheathed his weapon as they looked at each other. The small kindness registered in their minds before they moved on and into the dungeon. "Well, she seemed rather nice," Momonga mentioned, facing his companion.

"Yeah, a little standoffish," Touch Me agreed, silver weapon reflecting the sun's blinding beams. "The strange thing about her was the player name above her avatar. The whole thing was-"

"Right?" Momonga frowned, though the expression did not translate onto his skeletal face and made the emoji pop up instead. "The tag was gone. Where was it?"

"Maybe it got clipped somewhere?" Touch Me also seemed pensive, unsure of the reason as well. "Anyway, whatever. Mysterious player aside, we have a dungeon to run."

"Got it," Momonga agreed, and the two headed off into the recesses of the cave, completely unaware of what had transpired before their arrival.

Meanwhile, Java surveyed her options. "Now, what should I do for the next 15 or so hours until those two come back...?" She said aloud, then snapped her fingers. "Right! I should probably start by finding where each of the World Enemies is. God damn it, I'm gonna have to open the handbook again."

Java tried to reach into the air and grab the handbook. Her hand caught nothing. Her brow furrowed.

"Hm. Let me try again."

She continued to grab nothing several more times. She grew grimmer and grimmer as nothing appeared. "Okayyy," she said, pondering this. "Did they finally realize that I wasn't playing the game? Well, that sucks. I'm gonna have to find something else, then. When did they figure it out?"

Maybe it was when she got the reward notification, she thought, thinking back to the moment. She had received no exp, there was just a blank line with nothing there. She had received gold, though, but she couldn't even access her inventory.

"Well, my bag is my inventory," she mused, reaching in and looking through it. "Although, 1900 gold coins should be impossible to fit in so little space. What is this, an infinite magic bag?"

They were all there.

"How?" Java stared at them. "What?"

They were all there.

"No they aren't."

The bag was limitless and bottomless. Java reached into the bag and pulled out a gold coin, deadpan. "Alright. Alright then. Bottomless bag. Good to know."

She thought for a while, circling around in the middle of nowhere, before deciding to try and find some human and demi-human groups in order to ask for assistance. Most of them seemed too busy to talk to the likes of a stranger, but finally one kind druid elf did walk up and tell her a good estimate of where all the places should be on her map.

"Uh, the closest one should be in Muspelheim," he said, pointing to a spot on his own map that he shared with her. "We're in Helheim right now, so if you use a [Gate] spell or teleport then you can get to where it should be. I think its where one of the Lords of the Seven Deadly Sins, so make sure you have at least 30 other high-ranking players with you."

"Thank you," Java replied in relief, picking up from where she left off on her map searching.

She had briefly forgotten that there were nine other worlds she had yet to explore, making things even more difficult as she did not know the normal way to hop from one to the other. However, the guy she had asked for help from was already gone, running after his group members in preparation to fight a Raid Boss.

Java concentrated, closing her eyes and digging her feet into the ground beneath her.

In the forest with the dryad, it had been the first thing she felt when she came to: the presence of everything, so familiar and yet so out of place that she did not know how else to describe it.

It was as if centuries had passed and she was the only person who had not changed while the world went on without her, ever growing, changing its outward appearance and its cultures and its people.

From within her, a spark caught.

Yggdrasil's voice, tentative and gentle, came to her from deep within her memories - it was the lilting sound of a murmuring brook, the leaves that fluttered as a wind caught them in midair, the budding blossoms that sprouted so close to the sky as they hung from the branches. With two hands, she crouched close to the ground.

"Tell me," Java whispered, "Yggdrasil, are you still alive?"

There was no response. Java gave up, slumping dejectedly. She would have to figure that tidbit out on her own, but for now she knew what she had to do. She focused, pulled-

-and the fabric of the world twisted, as if she were shedding light.

Muspelheim didn't seem very different from Helheim, but the time seemed to be changing here at another pace- the sky was pitch black and resembling the night sky, stars twinkling eternally in silver dots. Java wondered if the skies changed eventually based on what hour in the day it was and if all of them were based on different timezones in the real world, but she could save that problem for later.

Rolling hills sloped gently coming from the east, a winding path going through the dips and becoming straight and narrow as it headed west.

To her left was a thunderstorm, crackling as it hung in the distance, but it did not seem to be moving any closer, receding more and more as the sky returned. That would explain the state of the ground, she thought, feeling the pebbles wet with rainfall.

For now, the dark peaks in the distance intrigued her the most. She had heard that at the top of those troublesome mountains was the abode of at least one of the World Enemies, and she was ready to begin progress on her quest.

_Destroy all World Enemy monsters. 32 remaining._

With a leap that shattered the ground into crumbling pieces, Java catapulted close to the summit in mere seconds, eating up the remaining time by locating the boss resting in front of her. It roused as her proximity neared, the same automaton gaze dull and unyielding as it awoke from 'sleep' mode.

_Engage in fighting?_

The pop-up blocked her vision, bland text blurring the rest of the screen as two boxes labeled 'yes' and 'no' appeared beneath it.

She was about to choose 'yes', but then she remembered the dragon.

Java didn't have to destroy it, exactly. Didn't she reap the rewards even after the code was disconnected from the dragon's avatar? Then it should be the same here - if the system no longer recognizes the physical body and the hitbox disappears, then there is technically no more 'monster' to defeat.

So she tapped 'yes' anyway, but as the NPC moved to attack Java leaned back instead.

The appearance of the Lord was that of a demon, as expected from his name being one of the seven sins. Java assumed that this World Enemy was of the cruel, counterattacking type, with a long pincered tail that jabbed like a viper whenever she stepped too close.

His armor was pitch black with two arms armed with claws, one of which held a halberd of a similar ominous caliber. Dark horns poked out from his silver hair like blades cutting frost, and his eyes were a deep red with black, snakelike pupils.

He looked like a true king of the underground.

His aura was black and agonizing, faces forming in fear and rage within the fog as they screamed with ear-shattering strength._ Despair, Lv. 10._ Java tilted her head.

_"Come!"_ He said, provoking her in anticipation. She asked him the same question she had asked the dragon, wondering if his response would be the same.

"Does it hurt to be controlled by something you cannot see? Or touch, or feel?"

The NPC did not change from its position, unwavering. _"Come!"_ He said again, hand gesturing, and with a tug Java realized that he was now using gravitational magic to pull her in. She held her hands up just as the striking point of the halberd came within view and wrenched it aside, tossing it far off the cliff so that the NPC couldn't follow.

"Hey!" She dodged the pincer, waving her arms in front of his face (and nearly losing her limbs for that, too.) "I'm trying to be civil here! Come on!"

_"The world, as it is, remains too weak to fight back," _he responded, the line being a part of his script as an extra reminder to the storyline, and laughed._ "I will reign supreme. The humans shall perish, and the demons shall take over whatever remaining hope there is left for a peaceful future. The strongest shall thrive, the weak shall be crushed mercilessly."_

"Oh, fuck it," Java said, beyond tired from the monologuing, and smacked him on the back of the head.

The unexpected move made his head be thrown forward, a rare expression of surprise appearing, as the green text shattered again and the code fell off him in shedding layers until only the character remained standing.

A robot voice blared on again.

_Congratulations, you have defeated a World Enemy. You have received the World Item [Ouroboros]._ And another box, with the quest labeling it as an update: _You have 31 World Enemies remaining._

At the very top of the list was an item, highlighted in gold to show that it was of extreme rarity. Java looked over it curiously, wondering what its power was. _World Item,_ it said, in shining aquamarine letters. _Contains_ _the power to request the developers to change the magic systems of YGGDRASIL._

That seemed very interesting.

Java was about to open her data crystal to take a closer look, but then the demon roused behind her and she remembered that it had regained its sentience.

He put one hand to the back of his head where Java had hit him, face contorting. "How dare you..."

Java looked at him, gaze unenthused.

What was this guy, a walking version of all the tyrants known to man? Yeah, Java didn't really like conversing with people, either, but she didn't go rubbing it into other random faces about how_ oh, the world should die because it displeases me and I should become king._

Who wrote his script? Java had a few words to say.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Java said, waving a hand. "Thanks for your time, if you do start destroying the world let me know, because I'll come back just to beat you up. Goodbye."

"W-wait, wha-" He raised a clawed hand, ready to apprehend her, but Java was about to teleport back to Helheim and return to the spot where she'd left Bukubukuchagama and Peroroncino standing. She stepped back at once, the makeshift not-spell ready to do its job.

"What - hey! Dude! Let go!"

The guy had latched onto her wrist with an iron grip, unrelenting, as his eyes burned with a renewed fire.

She tried to shake him off but to no avail. His grip grew tighter.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily!" He growled, and in the tug-of-war that ensued Java felt the world being warped around them and-

* * *

Momonga and Touch Me had just cleared the dungeon, walking out with the extra items they had acquired. "Hey, you're level 20 now," Touch Me said with a giant grin on his face. "Let's head on to a level 70 dungeon next. I'll kite him, you can throw spells from the back. Make sure you don't die."

"Thanks for helping me out," Momonga told him with a sheepish grin that translated into a happy emoji. "I know this has to be quite useless for you, considering you've been Level 100 for a while."

"Hey, no sweat! Besides, I'm pretty sure you would've been Level 90 yourself by now if those guys hadn't PKed you repeatedly," Touch Me responded, though there was a tinge of anger to that voice. "Honestly, those troublemakers. Get the loot yourself! Making players drop half of their items is overkill!"

Momonga was halfway through his next sentence when the air in front of them twisted, stopping him in his tracks.

Two figures tumbled out of the space, tussling and ready to maul each other to pieces. Java was crushing his pincer tail into the earth with her foot while the new demon was biting into Java's arm, strangely not enough to bleed but still enough to leave a mark.

"Frck ff," the guy mumbled through a mouthful of human, and Java stomped even harder while jutting her other leg into his side.

"You fuck off! That's disgusting, I don't want your dirty ass saliva on my-"

She looked up and saw the two standing transfixed in front of them, taking in the scene in numb disbelief.

"Oh, hi," she said cheerfully, kicking him off of her. "It's, uh, good to see you again."

"He doesn't have a nametag, either," Java could hear Momonga whisper. She kicked the demon lying prone on the floor one more time for good measure. He reached sideways, grabbed her ankle, and tripped her with his tail.

During Touch Me's playthrough of YGGDRASIL, he had calculated many things based on spells and attacks.

He had seen almost all of the casting animations, looked up all the high-tier ranking orders, memorized most of the allowed player movements in the game.

Emojis were used to show emotion.

Everyone knew that because of the way the game was made, players had to use emojis if they wanted to portray something that couldn't be shown visually.

The last update had been just yesterday, so he knew for a fact that there had been no change to the animations for the rest of the players. That [Teleport] had not looked like anything he'd seen, nor had the interaction between the two players as they fought. Java herself had a slight shift from foot to foot, which was natural considering the body movement in the game was very expressive, but her face...

Her face was _changing_.

And so was the demon's, to make things even more complicated.

"Are you adding a texture?" Touch Me asked, trying to wrap his head around it. "Was it a data crystal? I think that's possible if you use a cash shop item, I've seen other players with extra aesthetic effects on their avatar, it's not a very strange thing to manage either..."

"Huh?" Java said in slight confusion, unsure of what exactly he was talking about. There was a feeling she was getting again, the same thing that had compelled her to try and talk to them more. She shook it off vehemently.

Touch Me looked at the demon standing next to her more closely.

The nametag was definitely gone for both of them, which he didn't quite understand since didn't they want to have it so other players could see them? They almost looked like NPCs if they didn't have such irregular patterns. He cleared his throat. "A-anyway, what a coincidence to meet you here for a second time. We'll be heading off now."

"Who are these two," she could hear the demon mutter to her, stepping a bit closer for comfort.

At least, that was in her point of view: to everyone else, they could see the demon's tail hover just above her head, aiming to kill. Momonga laughed nervously, averting his eye sockets.

"Yeah, see you," she said, waving. Touch Me really was about to leave, ready to [Gate] his way over to the next dungeon, but then he stopped and turned back around as he overheard her next question to the demon beside her.

"Hey, do you know anything about the World Items?" She had something in her hand, and Touch Me's eyes immediately fixated upon it. "I found this, but I don't really care much about it. It disappears after using it once."

"Hold up." Momonga interrupted them abruptly. "Did you just say you have a one-use item?"

"Yeah. This thing." She held it up. "Is it important?"

It didn't really look too impressive, considering that it was supposed to be a World Item. The shield was wooden, cracked down the middle, and circular in shape: it was the pot lid, the weakest of the shields and for the beginner player to receive. The customization process was available, due to its original form not being for the right class, or people just liked changing its appearance.

Touch Me frowned.

"Did you customize it like this?"

He asked this while drawing his own blade. [Compliance with Law], the bonus equipment he had received when winning the [World Champion] title, was on par with the power of a World Item. It had come in this form, and Touch Me had decided not to change its appearance.

"It would distract people from wanting to take it, since you can't use [Appraisal: Magic Item] on enemy weapons." Touch Me agreed.

"I didn't change it."

Java gazed at it contemplatively, then shrugged. "Although I do remember it looking more like a statue before I pulled it out..."

The data crystal for this World Item was larger than normal, too, considering it was a much rarer item meant only for people who had defeated a certain World Enemy. They were extremely hard to beat, though, and not one single group had been able to do it successfully. Even Touch Me's World Item had been from scavenging the ruins, entirely by luck and an extreme amount of level-grinding.

Wait. She had said it disappeared after one use. Which meant that-

It was a Twenty.

"Join us," he decided immediately, taking out his own weapon for Java to examine. "Please," he added as an afterthought. Momonga made a sound of complaint.

"W-wait, what? We don't even have more than ten members in our clan yet, why are we-"

"She has another World Item! One of the Twenty, the kind that disappears after one use because of how strong it is!" He said, excited. "They're so hard to find, but they're extremely valuable, and I'm pretty sure no one in their right mind would sell the things. Why wouldn't we ask her to join?"

"I can sell it," Java mentioned, but Momonga had raised his voice to deny Touch Me's declaration.

"Hold on! Our group was made as a heteromorph-only clan, but she's playing a human! Even if we wanted to, we can't!"

"Yeah, but there are items that can change the race of a character, right?"

"That's a cash shop item!"

"So? I'm sure we can all chip in! I'll even pay 50%, how about that?"

"That's not worth it for a single World Item-"

"The hell it is! If we have two World Items, there's a greater chance that our guild will attract stronger members and we can gain a better reputation!"

"I can sell it," she said louder, but the two seemed not to have heard her. "Hey!"

"We can do that by ourselves! Sure, World Items are great, but-"

"It's a precautionary measure! Look, she and I can carry both of them until you reach Level 100, and then you can customize my weapon as you wish. Consider it a gift, then."

"I can't accept that! Besides, my birthday isn't even close, there's still five more months-"

"Hello?" Bukubukuchagama tentatively called out, having been standing behind them for several minutes and unwilling to step between them and stop their argument. "Oh, Java! You came!"

"Yeah," Java replied, greeting her politely. "I leveled up a bit. I think."

The two glanced between the bubbling heteromorphic slime, to the human, to the towering demon still standing next to said human, and quietly made a final decision.

* * *

I've had a very long conversation with my friend on whether or not categorizing the genasi based on their elements is racist, especially adding how their elements affect their personalities (ex. fire genasi are quick to act, energetic, impatient.) I don't believe it is, and its quoted right out of the fifth version too, but I sorta get how it can sound sort of shady.

Thanks for reading! See you in the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

i'm gonna keep writing because this is honestly pretty fun

* * *

Chapter 3

Despite everything that the demon had been spouting off, Java could admit that he was probably a good fighter. Every time she stepped near he tensed, pincer tail ready to strike at any of her weaknesses. She did not care for martial arts, but he seemed to know a combination of them.

He asked her to battle. She declined.

"Yeah, not dying anytime soon," Java sighed, dismissing him. Peroroncino stared at the demon a bit warily.

Java had expected him to be more of a "bow before me, lower life form" person since she was moving as a human character, but surprisingly he didn't rub it in as much. He seemed more interested in just fighting at any opportunity, and the prospect of strong opponents caught his attention.

Maybe he was intimidated by the other heteromorphic characters? No, he fought groups of 30 or so players on a regular basis, there was little chance that he found any fear from them, regardless of appearance.

It might also have been because she proved herself, but that was more of an afterthought considering the demon seemed to be lacking a few brain cells. Maybe she hit him too hard that time and he got insulted.

She was a bit worried about people who had seen the World Enemy before and what would happen if they recognized him. Then again, there could be people that changed their own avatar to look like a boss monster, though she'd never seen any players like that herself.

The flashiest characters actually were the ones roleplaying, she thought, side-eyeing Momonga who had managed to gain higher-level drop items, which included clothing. Customizing them was also available, of course, but that was usually if he had an item to do so.

Thank god YGGDRASIL had so many people entranced by the roleplaying aspect of the game; otherwise, this demon lord would've been more of a problem...

He still seemed to be craving for a fight, though. Following her around like a shadow, pincer tail waving with the attitude for striking at random moments, Java felt the urge to put him back where he came from. That would be a problem, too, since this World Enemy seemed to roam those mountains. People would come looking for a fight eventually, only to see that he was not there.

Other than that, the demon had no acknowledgment of the life he had been in before, trapped in one place by his coding. It was as if he had not recognized his place as an inferior monster ready to be attacked repeatedly, at least in the dev's standards.

Was it possible that he slept for most of that time?

There should definitely be long periods where no one comes to challenge him since he was a very tough Enemy to beat, but that seemed...quite possible, actually. Java peered closer at the NPC, and the tail paused right at the crown of her head, stopping right before it impaled itself into her skull.

She didn't know how these characters were made or how their memories worked before being developed into the storyline. For NPCs with long and detailed backgrounds, it would make sense, but for those whose purpose was just to exist, did those characters have their own lives before they turned into cannon fodder? Were they plucked out of their homes? Or were they blank slates, made only to exist after their birth and thusly having no recollection of their past?

That was a truly piteous thought. Java opted for patting him on the head sadly, earning her a glare and a twitch of one silver brow. She wisely decided not to do that again.

Touch Me and Momonga had both agreed on letting her join their clan, named Nine's Own Goal by the nine members who created it. They were all heteromorphic characters, though that was not very surprising since nobody else would want to have a non-human member that could be PKed in an instant. Momonga had been the second addition, and the name had come soon after the last person joined, with Touch Me as the appointed leader of the group.

The other eight players had all been saved by Touch Me in similar patterns, Momonga explained eagerly, much to the warrior's embarrassment. They had all been hunted down by human players only to be saved at the last minute. Their need to repay that debt banded them together and made them close friends, who trusted each other with their lives and their weapons.

"What happened to the ninth?" Java asked, only seeing eight members visible. Momonga laughed nervously but did not respond. Java assumed it was bad history and left the subject alone.

Bukubukuchagama and the demon (who denied vehemently, but after realizing that Java was discreetly trying to get rid of him accepted without hesitation) had been added as the eleventh and twelfth members.

Peroroncino, who they called soon after they disbanded the party and joined the clan, was apparently already a member of that group.

"What?" Said player asked nonchalantly, shaking his feathers as he materialized from thin air, logging on fully and readjusting to his settings. "They're the reason I'm playing on a regular basis. Well, I would've done that anyway, but..."

"And why didn't you invite me?" Bukubukuchagama cried, waving thin gooey arms in prayer. "I would've killed to join!"

"I don't want to invite you to everything, y'know!" Peroroncino groused, displeased. "Also, I didn't want my friends to be associated with the likes of you!"

"Hah? The hell is that supposed to mean?"

But before Peroroncino could reply, Bukubukuchagama turned towards the previously known World Enemy, self-introduction in mind. "Anyway, I haven't introduced myself properly. Hello! I'm Bukubukuchagama, what's your name?"

"Lowly fools like you have no permission to know my name," the demon retorted rudely, crossing his arms in one abrupt motion. Java promptly smacked him, earning a quiet hiss in return.

He didn't have a name, Java realized. Well, he might have before, but now he didn't, since she had destroyed every part of him that was once NPC. She grabbed the end of his tail and wrenched it backward so he lost his balance for a moment, his ire now pointed toward the puny human who had challenged him, but her serious mein did shut him up.

"His name is Az'gathan," she said, a finality imbued within it that made his eyes widen, and with that came the coursing power of the new title granted to him. "His nickname is Situs, so you can call him that, too."

'Az'gathan' blinked at the name, settling in place like a second skin.

It was not often that a demon acquired a name. If one tried to use another's name as his own, he would be consumed by the name if it was one of superior standing to his own. However, given willingly, and by a higher being, the name could be used by a demon of lesser standing.

Once they had parted ways, Java pulled over and asked, "was I right? The Sin Sloth?"

"Was that what my 'nickname' was for?" Az'gathan seemed bemused, which was great because his tail stopped getting as twitchy. "Yes, that is correct. I am the Sin of Sloth, and I symbolize the halfhearted ways of mortals and the crushing feeling of indecision."

"Nevermind, should have just called you 'Stultus' instead," Java muttered under her breath. The demon glared but no longer moved to attack. Java called that progress.

Nine's Own Goal operated on a weekly basis, which seemed pretty active considering most of them had a day job. Java was online 24/7, but none of them had to know that. She showed up when they did and left to other worlds when they logged off, and since her name didn't show up on anything (even the roster?! Peroroncino shrieked, triple checking. How is she not on the active list?) it was fine.

The first one to join after the original nine was a guy with the player name Nishikienrai. He seemed easygoing, shrugging off any setbacks with ease but also rallying his clan members in a way that seemed honest and forthright. His attributes were all categorized in the ninja category, but his personality completely contradicted what his playstyle was: he was aggressive, he was a risktaker, and he had an insatiable urge to charge in with the prospect of fighting higher-level monsters. With players, however, he was much more serious, to her relief.

The next player was a crab heteromorph with four hands, light orange in color and wielding a giant crab claw for a hand. His build had originally been for blacksmithing, but because of that he had been PKed quite a bit. He had the basic combat skills, but once overwhelmed he pretty much went down without a fight. However, as a teammate, he gave far better equipment for the rest of the group because of the smithing skill, which Java found quite interesting.

His clothing matched his vocation, which consisted of goggles and a black apron. His player name was Amanomahitotsu, which was quite a mouthful to say but not the strangest she's heard.

She didn't converse with him a lot, since he seemed to have several day jobs that he had to work and was offline for some of the time. She did think he was also very easy to converse with, despite his slight shyness and self-deprecation.

Tabula Smaragdina was someone she didn't talk to very much. However, he had a deep interest in lore and occult, which she could find respectable. He was also a very good strategist and held a lot of respect within the group for handling many group affairs with a keen eye. He was a good go-to when people wanted to know how to build their characters more efficiently, although he himself didn't fight actively.

He was someone that she would've expected to settle feuds between clan members, but apparently he had some issues himself. When he became too in-depth with his personal projects and interests, he would talk nonstop about it and become utterly single-minded, which made it hard to continue a conversation. Java enjoyed listening to him anyway, as the topic really did seem interesting and he seemed like a person who needed to get his thoughts out.

Warrior Takemikazuchi was a weapon fanatic. After being saved by Touch Me and being the person that he was, Takemikazuchi took that as an insult for being seen as weak and vowed to put the man in his place. He had also been one of the original nine.

Currently, he was leveling and re-leveling all of his skills, min-maxing his build so he could fight one-on-one battles better. He was a tank, like Bukubukuchagama, but he also split skills evenly around physical strength so his true damage increased. He took his role wholeheartedly. He was quite loud, which Java found funny as he engaged in one-sided arguments with Touch Me and lost invariably.

Ulbert Alain Odle was quite the pessimistic person. Out of game and in front of his friends, he was quite kind and caring although a bit of an eccentric, but his take on human players was that of extreme dislike. After meeting him for the first time, they grew quite close since they shared a common interest in NPCs and heteromorphic creatures (Ulbert's was more of the demonic variety, Java simply liked them in general) but Ulbert told her that she was the sole exception out of all the human players as his friend and ally.

"They shun heteromorphic creatures because they think our appearances are grotesque," Ulbert said, gray goat head twisting to the side so that one golden eye met hers dead on. He really enjoyed playing the villain role, much to Touch Me's ire. The two seemed to be having an inward feud that Java didn't want to pry too much on, since Ulbert seemed to have some bad history that needed to be locked up and kept secret. "What does that matter? There can be angels that are so cruel that they are mistaken for the devil, and demons so kind that they can be mistaken for an angel. In the end, they're all looking at the avatar and not the player."

"You take things too seriously," Touch Me laughed, helm shaking, and Ulbert sneered as his focus shifted to the warrior.

"Says the one wearing full body armor to appear human. You look the least monstrous out of all of us, what would you know?"

"Hey, hey, settle down," Momonga said, stepping in between them to stop the fight. Touch Me seemed aggravated but calmed at Momonga's warning. Ulbert, however, turned his back and left them standing there.

"They've had different views on life," Momonga whispered to her later after the remaining clan members had settled down and left the voice chat, the causes of tension gone and hopefully staying away from each other for a bit. "Ulbert thinks Touch Me was born with a silver spoon, while Touch Me thinks Ulbert is wallowing too much in self-pity. I believe they're both wrong, but I hope they can figure it out before it's too late."

Java agreed, but that wouldn't make the impossible happen. They resorted to arguments when splitting loot and such, but otherwise they seemed to settle on Momonga's final decisions as the mediator between them.

Az'gathan gravitated toward Ulbert's point of view, which made them quite good friends considering Ulbert thought Az'gathan also acted as a villain character.

He _was_ a villain character, Java thought in her silence, but Ulbert didn't need to know that.

All of them had briefly questioned her about the World Item she had 'found' in Muspelheim. Momonga mentioned how she could customize it by opening the data crystal and typing the attributes in. Since it had more space than even a divine item, Java could use it basically as she wished.

She chose to give it to someone else instead.

"Here," she said. Momonga blinked in surprise. "I don't need it."

"You don't?"

"Nope."

Momonga seemed to be shaking. "I can't take a Twenty from you after all you've done for us," he declined, refusing furiously despite however many times Java had pushed it towards him, so she chose to take that moment to chuck it at him, turn away, and hightail it out of there before Momonga could give it back.

With the loss of one Item, Java prepared to go and get another.

Az'gathan made a face as she wound space-time around them, warping into the next realm they would fight in.

"Fighting my brethren displeases me," he muttered, furrowing his brow. Java turned to him, surprised.

"You have feelings?" She asked.

She ducked the tail that stabbed into the place where her head had just been, laughing. So he did have a sense of humor, after all.

"No, I do not care much for them," Az'gathan replied, brushing off invisible lint from his armored shoulder. "However, there is one Lord of the Seven that has power far beyond my own, even as powerful as I am."

He frowned. "He may kill you without remorse."

"I'm pretty sure you would've done the same if you could," Java shrugged. "If you're injured too much, then run. I can handle it alone."

The tail hovered, then stopped. "Do not die."

"Too late," she said, then traversed into the thunderstorm.

The bad weather had not disappeared since the last time she came. This was probably that [Control Weather] skill she had heard so much about, she thought, rain coming down hard and almost pelting her if not for her magic repelling it away from her skin and clothes. Az'gathan kept pace behind her, tail moving quickly to throw the raindrops off. It was quite efficient, but it looked difficult to do.

There was a circular structure in front of them, with four sets of stairs each coming from the north, south, east, and west sides. They took the closest staircase, which had been the eastern one. The marble was slick with rain, black stone swirling with designs like the galaxy hanging past the storm clouds. In the middle stood a tall, dark figure, hood covering their face. The person turned their way.

The first demon after joining Nine's Own Goal was the Sin named Pride. While fighting, his cloak had been thrown off to reveal the armor he had underneath: it was quite different from the first Sin she'd met, as this armor had a deep purple sheen, covered not in decorative symbols but fully plated scales and metals of all materials. There was a third eye tattooed on the center of his forehead, with red irises and a dark sclera.

_30 remaining._

This demon had not dropped an item, to Java's surprise. She left as soon as she relieved Pride of the green text, and luckily he had been too stunned to move. The next demon was not in Muspelheim but Niflheim, a world with a demon majority NPC group.

_29 remaining._

"Still no drop? Tch." Java teleported without another word. That NPC had been either Gluttony or Greed, she hadn't stuck around long enough to figure it out. Az'gathan followed her continuously, ever the faithful demon. She wasn't sure whether he wanted to fight someone in this endeavor, though, as he was still somewhat pent up.

_28 remaining._

_27 remaining._

_26 remaining._

The 25th proved to have results. "Oh, thank fuck," she said, turning the weapon over and over in her hands. It was a wand, small and feather-light, with a thin pointed tip and a leaf engraving at the other end. Wrath was standing in front of them, perplexed by how both people had ignored him after receiving the items. "Jesus Christ, now all the Lords have escaped. Alright, time to go."

"Wait!" The NPC spoke, cowed but still standing strong.

Java let out an aggravated sigh, turning back to face the demon, the 'strongest' that Az'gathan had spoken of - Wrath. He was the last one she had defeated.

"Why have we been freed?" Blood red eyes focused unnervingly on hers, deferent to the one who had so easily let him escape from the invisible prison he had been placed in for millennia. He had adjusted to this new predicament the fastest, Java noted as he pulled himself to his feet. His skin was ashen grey, long mane of dreadlocks unhindered and let down, while smoke trailed from the burning ground of the surrounding volcanic rock. He was also the most recipient to responding to the human. "What shall we do now?"

"Do what you've always done. Or don't, I don't care," Java said, shooing him away. "Just make sure the devs don't notice you and attack anyone who comes by, or I'll come back and kill you myself."

(The demon shivered. He knew, with utmost certainty, that Java would come and do just that.)

Having completed what she'd come for and killing time 'destroying' World Enemies, she returned to Helheim without a hitch. She'd hopped through the nine worlds looking for all of them after some searches turned up empty, but even then it had taken under three hours due to her running away when she did find the World Enemies rather than sticking around to fight. Az'gathan looked disappointed. Her [Message] skill turned on with a _click_.

"Oh, hey, you're back!" Bukubukuchagama yelled, waving in the distance. Java teleported closer while Az'gathan took the winged route, flying up high and rocketing down to gain speed. "Guess what we found while you two were gone!"

"A dungeon?" Java guessed. Bukubukuchagama's blank stare made her feel slightly bad for guessing correctly.

"How did you know - you know what, never mind. Yeah, we found a dungeon. It's pretty hard, too! Nishikienrai found it, nobody else had been there so its untouched," she added with an evil laugh and the rubbing of her hands. She was talking with Ulbert again, wasn't she... "It's in the marshlands. It could even be one of those dungeons where you can build a base! I'm so excited! We'll probably need more members to conquer it, though," she mumbled with a frown, gooey mess sagging a bit.

"Oh, oh, did you find a World Item?" Bukubukuchagama then remembered. Java's expression made her light up again, twirling. "You did! Oh, wow, Ulbert's going to go nuts! I'm gonna tell Peroroncino about this!"

"Lucky, that's one word to describe you," Ulbert muttered, grasping the weapon when she found him. He was surprisingly easy to find, messing with the base description on the item as soon as she gave it to him. "I can't believe you actually found it. You told me you would find it by tomorrow, and you finish the task in six hours. There's only 200 of them, and they're extremely hard to find. Are you a World Item magnet or what?"

"What're you gonna make with it?" Java asked, peering over his shoulder curiously. Ulbert's gaze moved to her, then went back to the item, a malicious grinning emoticon popping up over his head.

"I was going to log off, but after you gave me this it's time to pull an all-nighter," he cackled, opening the data crystal for the description and typing so fast that his fingers blurred. "You'll see by tomorrow."

Java left him to it.

"Hey, Az'gathan, by the way: why is Wrath turning out to be more understanding than you?" She asked, prodding at the tail poking out behind him as he watched. The tail lanced toward her right arm, but she grabbed it instead and tried to tie a knot. The tail rebelled viciously, wiggling like a particularly strong worm. Az'gathan remained unimpressed.

"He believes that he has been put in his place. I, however, have not been defeated yet."

"Y'know, I've met the Seven Sins before in different worlds, and all the versions seem quite different from each other," Java mused, tilting her head. "Not just appearance, but personality as well. None of you have any of the stereotypical attributes for your title like laziness or reckless anger, which is somewhat nice. I was getting quite tired of that bit."

Az'gathan's tail shortcircuited. Java stared down at it in confusion.

"There are others?" He asked, awed. She furrowed her brow but nodded: technically there were many, all in universes that he would never be able to see because of how disconnected they were from each other.

"Well, yeah."

She made the second illusion far past midnight, when most average players had gone to sleep. Muspelheim's Sin had returned, remaining in the same spot at the top of the mountains where it could be 'challenged' without a hitch.

The World Enemies were too widely known for her to risk it. She asked Az'gathan another question that had been pressing on her mind.

"Don't you have any summons near here?"

"I do not," he replied. "They would only be in the way when I fight."

"But even the dungeon bosses-"

"Dungeons and raid bosses are there to protect a specific area," he interrupted, flexing a claw. "Furthermore, they cannot move from their spot. World Enemies and possibly a few divine enemies are able to roam their terrain reaching up to a certain point. I have a very high perception, as does the others."

"Oh, I see," she nodded. "Covering the entire map is pointless when you're coming to fight some of the strongest monsters in YGGDRASIL, anyway. The players would probably do their best to avoid them as not to waste any mana or hp, which would give you far more of an advantage than they need."

"So," she concluded, arm casting out towards the vast plains in front of them, the dungeon further behind the forest line, "what do you think of the world so far?"

"Weak," he spoke immediately. "Unappealing. Too many humans. They are using their strength in numbers, as that clan member of yours - Ulbert - had mentioned before."

"You're also a clan member," she deadpanned. "What are your memories of Yggdrasil? Before the game part of the world existed, I mean?"

"I don't quite remember," he answered after a slight pause. "Players have existed ever since my creation. Yggdrasil has always been mostly destroyed. That was how it's always been."

It was possible. Yggdrasil had the story written as historical proof, but that could have been implemented by the game writers. Maybe, in this world, Yggdrasil had always been tarnished by the World Eater.

But why wouldn't the leaves grow back? It had eaten most of the leaves, yes, but the Yggdrasil she knew gained flowers where it had lost them, grew back fallen leaves, and the ones it did have never withered or turned brown in age. It had been a sacred tree, a god itself.

Speaking of the leaves...

Java remembered the ones still in her bag and pulled them out, looking over them carefully. She didn't see any use for them, and there was no option popping up for her to change them into useful things like World Items or parts for rare material.

"Do you know what these are for?" She asked Az'gathan, hoping he would have some sort of answer.

He shook his head. "I do not. I have never seen this type of plant before."

There were nine leaves in total, three from each wrapped piece of cloth. Java decided to check who was still online, searching around. Momonga was still up, right where she had left him at one of their clan meetings. Ulbert was off doing his work on the World Item he had. She decided not to go bother him now.

She chose Momonga.

"Oh, hey," he greeted as Java walked up to him, leaving Az'gathan behind to rest. He had used many [Teleport] skills in a short amount of time and he didn't have a magic item that would keep him from needing sleep. That had been a new item that she'd learned about recently, but since she didn't need sleep anyway she had no use for it.

"Shouldn't you be asleep by now?" She asked.

"It's fine, I can stay up for one more hour," he replied. "I'm working on the World Item you gave me. What's up?"

"Show me when you're done!" She gave him some of the leaves to put in his inventory and use the [Appraisal] skill on, holding more up for Momonga to examine and waiting for input."Anyway, can you help me with these? I have no idea what they do."

"Woah! 'Yggdrasil leaves'? That sounds pretty important."

He cast [Appraisal: Magic Item], reading the description, but then frowned as if he had hit a roadblock.

"Can't you make World Items out of Yggdrasil's leaves?" He asked, contemplation in his voice. "That's from what I remember of the lore. Yggdrasil used to have a countless number of leaves. The World Eater came and destroyed most of them, leaving only nine attached. The rest that were not eaten were scattered across those nine worlds."

"Right," she said, deciding to open the data crystal. Their description popped up, but she didn't have [Appraisal] so she couldn't figure out what to use them on or how to use them at all. "So what's the problem?"

"Well, it can't be that easy, right? We have nine of them, if they all turned into World Items that'd be crazy," he laughed. "I'm pretty sure this is from an event item or something. Maybe you picked them up from the ruins you investigated."

"Just try what it says," Java urged. With a sigh, Momonga took the ones he had and transformed them with the press of a button on his console-

"Ah."

The rest of the spaces in his inventory had been filled up, each containing a different World Item, border easily visible through Momonga's screen.

They stared down at the verdict.

"HOLY FUCK! ULBERT GET OVER HERE!" Momonga's very uncharacteristic scream had Ulbert scrambling back to base camp while he simultaneously called the remaining members. Java felt herself leaning back at his enthusiasm, feeling like she was staring into a nascent sun giving off too many waves of energy at once. "Touch Me-san? Are you awake? Guess what we have, five more World Items! Wait, Java, you still have four more! We have twelve Items in total! Get everyone online, we're using these on everybody!"

"I cannot believe," Java deadpanned as Momonga continued screaming into the void, "that this just happened."

Needless to say, the people who came online did not get much sleep after that. Some skipped work to make sure they could safeguard their items, while others (like Touch Me) returned only after their normal hours, but in the end twelve out of the fourteen members had received an Item, Az'gathan being excluded and still fast asleep. One was a Twenty, the type that would disappear after one use because of its capabilities.

Java handed hers in to Momonga, granting him the second World Item. "H-huh? Me?" He asked, pointing to himself. "But don't you want one?"

"It's fine," she said. "Give it to someone else."

Yet Momonga insisted that she keep it, and Tabula Smaragdina proclaimed that he could not use it as he was the sole group commander and would be too focused on making sure everyone else could manage, so eventually Java sighed and decided to give it to Az'gathan instead, who would wake up after a couple more hours. Demons ran efficiently, but not as efficiently as she did.

He didn't show much of a reaction on his face, but his tail wagged in glee and Az'gathan made an effort to hide it as much as possible. It was quite a good response so Java chose to leave him be. Well, he was probably as strong as two or three of those Items, but if he could find a use for it that was not in his skillset it would still turn out to be a good present.

She wondered what he would make with the settings.

Normally, they still would've been unable to do that dungeon raid, but after finding three more members - Herohero, Blue Planet, and Ankoro Mocchi Mochi - and with almost all of them having World Items, they were ready to place the challenge. However, before that, Touch Me called for a final group meeting to announce a big change.

"We can form a guild with this many members," Touch Me said, recounting the number of people in their group. "We have seventeen exactly. Along with the addition of World Items, despite not having as many people we can defeat the dungeon. Make sure to use them properly, this will be our one chance."

"We're forming a guild now?" Takemikazuchi asked, shouldering the weapon on his back. It was the World Item, transformed into a samurai's sword that fit his character description. "It's about time, honestly."

"I don't want to advertise our having World Items yet," Touch Me warned, switching out his weapon. Java was barehanded already, so it didn't matter much. "If we form a guild now and other people come to join, they may only stick around to take one and leave. We should wait on using them near other players until we have a good reputation by itself."

"Do you think we should wait on conquering the dungeon then?" Amanomahitotsu asked nervously. "If we lose our items in there, it might turn out bad."

"Completing a dungeon with only seventeen people does sound a bit suspicious," Ulbert agreed. "Besides, I'm not done with my World Item."

"I think we should," Touch Me said. "Someone might take it before we do. I've seen several groups around this area already, but none of them have found it. We shouldn't push our luck waiting."

"Not worth the risk."

"We should do it," Takemikazuchi spoke. "I think we can do it. We've gotten this strong already, haven't we?"

"I agree with Take-san," Ancient One told them, also taking a side. "Don't you think it's great? We'll start off our guild with a bang. This game was meant for players to thrust themselves into danger. With that in mind, isn't clearing an unknown dungeon a good thing? Let's become a guild that goes all in."

"Stupidly going all in and losing half our inventory isn't what I call a smart choice," Flatfoot frowned. "I'm not fully leveled yet, so I don't feel too great about this plan. We should bail." An argument seemed imminent, as there were divided opinions on whether or not to take the risk.

"Let's do a majority vote," Momonga cut in, avoiding another bad situation. "All in favor?"

Java raised her hand. So did Az'gathan. Ulbert and a few others did not, but it was clear that the majority were indeed in favor. "It's decided, then. On that note, we can vote on who the next guild leader will be. Touch Me, are you willing to take on that role?"

"I'm stepping down," Touch Me mentioned, earning a few exclamations of surprise. "I wasn't a very good group leader anyway, and I think Momonga could manage it far better than I have."

"Wait, what?" Momonga said. "That's news to me!"

That was true: since nobody wanted to step in between Touch Me and Ulbert, Momonga was usually the person to go to when stopping those fights. Everyone seemed to simultaneously agree that it was for the best.

"All in favor of Momonga?"

There was no opposition. Momonga sheepishly bowed his head. "O-okay, then. Thank you, everyone. I'll try my hardest."

Ainz Ooal Gown, the name having been chosen by Momonga, had been mild in comparison to some of the other suggested titles. He had liked the old name, he said with a grin, so he had created an anagram from it. The result was adequate for their purpose. She approved.

Java avoided speaking to them for the rest of the day, checking out the dungeon alone. She didn't want this to be a sweeping victory as it would definitely seem a bit suspicious, but at the same time they would be very disappointed if they lost so quickly. Momonga had just reached level 60 after grinding, but the recommended amount for players to beat it was at level 80 and above. She went through each floor as quick as she could, avoiding any interaction with the raid bosses and watching the patterns of the pop monsters.

Looking at what information she had collected, the Great Tomb of Nazarick was a 6-floor dungeon that could be made into a guild base when conquered. There was a treasure chest with equipment that Nishikienrai would probably find interesting, along with a considerable amount of gold coins near the end. Bukubukuchagama had mentioned how this was an unexplored dungeon without any claim by another guild, so they should make use of their head start.

There were Five Rulers on the first five floors, one per floor. They each seemed to have level 70 to above level 90 attacks and were ordered by the last boss, the Lord of Helheim, to protect the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Three of these monsters she looked at more closely, consisting of the Pure White Bat, a Lightning Dragon, and a fallen divine being named Asura.

Surprisingly, the strength of these bosses were not by what floor they had originated from. The Lord of Helheim had given her a speech as soon as she had entered, mentioning that whatever order she had entered the tomb first would relegate the strength of the floor's protector. If the guild was successful for beating it on the first try, the Lord of Helheim mentioned, they would be rewarded with the rights to the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

The NPCs were very well made, Java admitted, looking at the last boss on the list. It was formed by a statue cursed with evil intention, standing five meters tall and having six arms, each of them holding a different weapon. He was able to use a sword, ax, spear, club, and a bow, and the last hand was used to nock the arrow. His defense was extremely high, too, with intricately made armor covering his body.

She felt slightly bad for intruding into their home, yet the Lord of Helheim seemed quite alright with letting her in.

_"This dungeon was meant to be conquered,"_ he said fondly. His appearance was that of a bearded old man, dressed in modest clothing but very kind. He stroked his long white beard thoughtfully, watching alongside her as they traversed the area. He seemed to know that she was not a player, to her shock. "_That is what we were made for. However, that doesn't mean we'll make it easy for them."_

"I see," Java replied, nodding her head. Asura did not move as they moved through the dungeon, though the hand holding the sword dropped to cross over his chest in a symbol of deference. The Lord of Helheim raised a hand and the living statue returned to its normal position.

_"I am in charge of keeping administration over the whole of Helheim. I keep watch over all of the dungeons and monsters in this world, not only Nazarick. I am glad for their gaining independence. I have heard that you were the one who assisted the dragon Qeizodis, am I correct?"_

"Yeah," Java admitted, wide-eyed at the self-aware NPC. "I didn't know there were other people who knew about the world they really live in."

_"I've lived for a very long time,"_ he told her quite wearily._ "I have learned many things about players. That is what has been given to me."_

Later that night, all members of the guild logged on to start the dungeon raid. Java made sure to stay near the back so that she wouldn't make any suspicious signs of recognition. Az'gathan trailed even further behind, disinterested.

"They're somewhat strong, but I can still beat them," he spoke, tail flickering. "I have no interest."

The Lord of Helheim merely watched and did not partake in fighting, although she learned that when confronted he was stronger than all the bosses here. He appeared in front of them, loud booming voice echoing in the dim light of the dungeon. His first line when greeting them had been formal: _"You who desire this land. Defeat us, and show us your true power."_

"Hey, who is this old man?" Nishikienrai joked, pointing his blade carelessly in his direction. Java tensed.

"Hold on, idiot, let him talk," Ancient One spoke, jostling him. She briefly let out a sigh in relief. "He'll probably tell us what to do next."

"_Defeat the boss on each floor," _the NPC spoke. "_After stepping into the circle, you will be transported to an assigned floor. You will be split into groups of five."_

"We're gonna split up?" Momonga frowned, worried. "We're at uneven numbers, though. There'll be two groups with an extra member, but having only three players for the others? That's impossible!"

"We can choose, right?" Java murmured to the Lord of Helheim. He nodded silently. "Okay. I got this. Is it alright for me to go first?"

_"I will make sure that you fight the strongest enemy, as requested," _he replied. "_Now go."_

Java straightened up. Touch Me was the one who noticed first as she moved without speaking to anyone else, stepping up into the portal with no hesitation. "Java? Wait, what are you doing?"

She turned around and promptly saluted. "I'll see you on the other side. Good luck," she said with some amusement, and as the wild emoticons began flashing she disappeared into the ether, ready to face an opponent that none of them would meet.

There was complete silence. The group stared vacantly at where she had been standing moments before, feeling as if a part of their soul had left them at Java's self-sacrifice. "No," Touch Me said, one hand coming up to hide the expression that would be on his face if not for the helmet but conveying resignation nonetheless. "Oh my god. We're screwed."

"What the fuck!" Ulbert exploded. In the corner Momonga could see Ulbert furiously spamming messages to the human who had just gone on without them, unable to return unless she defeated whichever boss she faced. Apparently the level difference ranged, and for all they knew she could be fighting the hardest one.

(Of course she was. Whichever demon they made spite them today, Momonga would make sure to beat them up eventually and with enough high-level potions to last him 10 battles.)

"On that note, I'll be alone as well," Az'gathan said, nodding slightly and moving in place. "Do not worry about her, worry for yourselves. We will both come out victorious. Goodbye."

They continued to stare vacantly as Az'gathan also disappeared. The NPC could hear a cricket chirping but could not locate its whereabouts.

"You're kidding," Punitto Moe said, completely deadpan. "You're joking me. They're going to die."

"What...?"

Ulbert completely broke down. He fumed so loudly that Momonga could hear the smoke pluming out of his ears, ready to catch fire and explode. "When she comes back out, I'm beating the shit out of her," he snarled, then pointed. "You, you, you, and you, come with me before I leave you all behind. We're getting this over with."

"Oh my god, we're all going to die," Blue Planet moaned. "Why did I join this guild? I wasn't ready for this, it's my first dungeon-"

"This'll be exciting," Takemikazuchi laughed as he settled in his group of five. Ulbert had chosen three other high-level players and one low-level, so the matchup should be fine. They all stepped onto the plate. "If you guys die, I'm taking all the loot!"

"In your dreams," Nishikienrai sighed, then gestured. "Momonga-san, Touch Me-san, Tabula-senpai, Bukubukuchagama-san, are you all ready?"

"All set!"

"Here we go," the guild master replied, and then they were all gone.

The Lord of Helheim glanced around the room, at the statues standing in wait alongside the walls and the long tapestries hanging from the dark grey brick, and turned to face the entrance, door still ajar.

"Let's see how this goes," he sighed, and with a flash he left so that no one was left remaining. The trial had begun.

* * *

The guild, when defeating each of the Five Rulers, would all eventually make their way to the sixth floor and complete the dungeon. Tabula Smaragdina had mentioned how the Great Tomb of Nazarick was a simultaneous attack dungeon, where multiple groups had to attack at the same time which was why there were five parties.

Java blinked, Asura staring her down from the far end of the arena. According to the rules, the bosses were supposed to get stronger as every party stepped onto each floor, and the weakest challengers could go first and fight the weakest enemy. However, she had asked beforehand to fight the strongest one at max level, lowering the rating for the rest of the monsters in the process.

_"They will be fine,"_ Asura rumbled as if reading her thoughts, then went into a fighting stance. "_Oh foolish ones who challenged us, know the might of those who become stronger with every layer of binding removed from us."_

_"_Let's have a good match," Java agreed, and then they lunged.

Asura pulled out spells that Java had not seen from any player in YGGDRASIL, and their strength surprised her immensely. Along with his high resistance and defense, his elemental attributes were dedicated to each weapon in his hand as he swung the handled blades. "[**Solar Flare]. [Neptune Lightstorm]. [Jupiter Tempest]."**

His sword caught fire. From the flaming hilt of the blade, a torrent of flames shot toward her and encircled her in a torrent of inescapable heat. It would've burned her skin if not for her teleportation skill, sidestepping the attack. A blizzard of light energy was next, released from his ax and dealing both cold damage and a [Slow] debuff that lessened her speed. Java waited for his last spell.

His lance used electricity. The Coliseum was flooded with strikes of lightning that hit randomly and without hesitation, forming in a split second and blinding the victim. Java jumped high, far above the range of the lightning-spawned attacks, and shot a spell of her own.

**"[Great Ore of Mercury],**" Asura said, using what looked like a buff resistance spell on himself, but it was too little, too late. The beam of light came down like a hammer, blasting him with pure elemental energy and sending him nearly off the edge.

"_H-how," _the boss spoke, arms still quivering from the last blow as he recollected his bearing. "_Such strength. __To think you have made it this far with only one hit! I have underestimated you. In this case... come forth, my minions!"_

**[Summon Primal Elementals]_._** Asura threw all the weapons from his hand into the sky and called down five great beings made of pure elemental energy, each attributing to the magic the weapon had commanded. The fire, water, earth, and air elementals were summoned around him, ready to act as ordered, and there was one elemental that seemed far stronger than the rest. It bore down upon her, the final Star Elemental, at a solid level 90.

"Come at me," Java cackled, grinning with jagged teeth.

The match was ended as Java destroyed them, one by one and with deadly precision. The Star Elemental was spared for last, lacking emotion or rage as the minions around it died. That was what an NPC looked like, she thought, observing the last one closely. "Do these beings have autonomy over their own minds?"

"_They are made from the magic channeled within my weapons," _Asura replied. He seemed to have figured out the winner at this point, dropping four arms but crossing two over his chest as the elemental stopped attacking, obediently letting Java walk around it as if she were ready to dissect it. "_I concede. This match is yours."_

"Thank god," Java sighed, shoulders slumping. "These guys will probably show no mercy on the rest of the bosses, though. I'm sorry for that."

"_No matter," _Asura replied, head bowed low. "_Once the dungeon has been conquered, we will no longer exist. We have prepared for this for a long time."_

Java furrowed her brow. "Are you sure?"

"_We are willing to die with our dungeon," _Asura replied in a mellow tone. "_Thank you for your consideration. I wish you the best as this Great Tomb is made anew."_

Java decided to stay with him on the last floor a little longer. [Message] spells had stopped by now as the other guild members focused on their own fights, so Java sat down and decided to keep him company.

"_I have been defeated," _Asura said in amusement. "_You are no longer required to stay here."_

"It'll probably take a while, so I'm fine here."

"_I see," _he replied, and they fell silent. _"...I admit, I am a bit afraid of the ending. No creature wishes to die. I will miss this Tomb."_

"I've only been here for about forty minutes at most, but I'll miss it, too." Java examined the broken pillars of the arena, the floating rock high above them, the expansive room that turned dark and blurry at the edges as if the floor itself were an illusion. "I can only imagine how it feels to you."

_"Home,"_ Asura said, almost hesitant, like he was testing the word for the first time. "_It is home. I am sure that my companions also agree."_

_"_What's going to happen to the Helheim guy?"

"_He will move to other dungeons in the designated world he was assigned to," _Asura replied. "_He is never stuck to one place. He is omnipresent, a part god, if you will. He maintains the aspect of NPCs that the game creators do not reach."_

"And what is that?" Java asked. Asura opened his mouth, then closed it as his eyes shut.

"_It is time."_

"Ah."

"_They are waiting for you." _Asura pointed to the teleportation circle on the far end of the arena, glowing steadily to show that the transfer to the final floor was available. "_I may meet you in the next life."_

"Goodbye," she whispered, and stepped in. The last thing she saw was the waving being beside the statue, white and ethereal with elemental magic, as it finally vanished from this world.

_"Congratulations. You have completed the Great Tomb of Nazarick and cleared all the floors. You have received the World Item: _**[The Throne of Kings]**_."_

"We did it," Bukubukuchagama whispered, awestruck. "We won."

"Java, you survived!"

"Thank you for your everlasting faith," Java blandly retorted. Was it just her, or were Az'gathan's claws covered in blood?

"JAVA! Get over here! I'm confiscating all your items as punishment!" Ulbert shouted, and Java instantly started to run away. She felt a cold prickle running down her back. "Hey! Get back here! I'm going to kill you, so stand still!"

"You said you wouldn't kill her if she won," Momonga smiled helplessly as Java ran out to the exit immediately, not even choosing to stick around and celebrate the win in favor of keeping her life. The list of items they had won was in his hands, ready to be distributed equally amongst their members.

"I would've killed her either way! JAVA! I'm tearing you limb from limb after that stunt you just pulled!"

"Am I free to leave?" Az'gathan murmured to Peroroncino, who was watching them run without shame after dropping character (Ulbert specifically. Maybe this was his way to show happiness?) "I shall go see where Java has gone."

"Yup! Make sure she didn't die, or we would've wasted this all for nothing," he said, a smile forming. For the first time, Ainz Ooal Gown would gain attention as the first to defeat this dungeon. He felt his pride swell. "On second thought, bring her back. I'll message her. Let's take a commemoration photo!"

* * *

WOOHOO third one down! They're getting bigger, and the transition from clan to guild is complete.

See you in the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

Fixed a bunch of things in the old chapters.

* * *

Chapter 4

NPC creation was not something she was made for. The mere thought of it was somehow frightening.

It was not some sort of hidden traumatizing event that made her reluctant to touch on the topic. She had just never been interested in creating things. She observed them, she foresaw their potential, and she watched human beings grow from children to adults and the range of emotions they experienced along the way but never before had she been given the option to create anything by herself.

She was not made for this. Az'gathan seemed to share the same sentiment.

"No need," he declined when asked, tail waving lazily behind him. "I am strong enough on my own."

"What about you, then?" Bukubukuchagama leaned forward eagerly, bouncing in place. "Do you have anything in mind, Java?"

"Uhh... H-How's your NPC development going?" Java hurriedly countered, deflecting the question away from herself. Bukubukuchagama pouted, well aware that Java would not be answering that question anytime soon as she acquiesced to Java's prodding.

"It's pretty good, actually. I made two dark elf twins as the main guardians of my floor," she smiled, gliding back to the Coliseum she had put them on.

It was the floor similar to the one she had fought Asura on, if Java could remember correctly, the gladiator floor. The two places looked strikingly alike.

Java wondered if there was data on the deleted floors that they had recycled from.

Tabula Smaragdina had grilled the members on rebuilding the dungeon as efficiently as possible, eagerly putting the settings on ten different floors and accessing the various descriptions of the rooms they could create. Other people, like Peroroncino and Bukubukuchagama, worked more on NPC creations first, but overall most of the dungeon had been renovated with Momonga's guidance.

According to the guild master, about 30% of the guild's layout had been set in stone, and the rest was still in progress. Blue Planet had taken control of the 6th Floor, resembling a large jungle around 200 meters in height to give the image of the sky above them. He was currently working on how to change the settings from day to night based on what time it was outside the dungeon as well. Bukubukuchagama had placed her NPCs there, where she said that 'they could enjoy the sky without having to be pelted by literal thunderstorms and lightning strikes and all that'.

The center of the jungle laid a wide ring of water to represent the lake, but Blue Planet was unsure whether he wanted it there or not.

"I have to put the plains somewhere else," he muttered, shifting his hands, and as he changed the settings the whole of the lake disappeared, trees uprooting so that they could be moved around like playthings. "That should do it."

Az'gathan seemed entranced.

"You can try it, too. You should ask Ulbert, he's on the 7th floor," Java murmured to him, and in a flash the demon disappeared. He seemed pretty excited about the whole thing now that the topic wasn't on creating new characters.

"What're their names?" She asked Bukubukuchagama, who was still fawning over the layout of the floor and the giant tree somewhere in the distance where the elf twins resided. The inside of the tree was probably hollowed out or something.

"Aura Bella Fiora," Bukubukuchagama introduced with a flourish. "Mare Bello Fiore. They're my pride and joy."

She gave a hand motion and a verbal order. "[_Bow_]." Both twins bowed low in reverent respect to their creator and Supreme Beings, greeting them with ease. Bukubukuchagama clapped excitedly. "They're so cute! I'm so happy with them!"

"They look great," Java agreed, leaning down to look at their heterochromatic eyes. The clothing difference was cute, the colors contrasting in a pleasant way, and overall they looked like children ready to take on the rest of the world. "Nice job. What did you put down in their description?"

"Aura is the elder twin. She's confident in herself and very excited when it comes to the care of magical creatures," Bukubukuchagama said, patting each twin on the head as she told their likes, dislikes, and various traits.

"Mare is quiet and composed, and a little scared at times. He works with spells and healing, and he's very competent by himself but he lacks a bit of confidence. They match each other perfectly."

"Ah," Java said, nodding sagely. "Very unlike your actual brother, then."

"Shh!" Bukubukuchagama shushed her quickly. "Peroroncino doesn't know about that. Keep it a secret from him, please?"

"He'll probably come by and look at them eventually," Java laughed, but keeping the promise. "Sure, sure. I'm gonna check out the Amphitheatrum."

Built as a carbon copy of the worn-down Roman Colosseum, there were various golems and strange creatures - dragonkin, they were called - placed about in seemingly random stations. They were probably the pop monsters the intruders had to fight to continue on to the next floor. Near the forest edge and the inner depths of the jungle were dryads, mandrakes, and other plant-based creatures, well hidden behind large trees in case anyone came too near. All of them stopped moving when Java passed by, reverent of the one watching over them.

The exterior of the dungeon had not changed like the inside, but the settings management was still available. It reached about 200 meters around in all directions, so the need for disguise was necessary and based on their surroundings. The marshes of Grenbera were where they were located, so Momonga decided to keep it as it was before any players got suspicious.

The tomb itself was built as a cemetery on the surface floor, with two entrances and an ominous front gate. Tombstones were closely placed but in no particular order, and there were statues of goddesses and angels seen knocked aside or facing various angles, meant to be seen as displaced and abandoned figures desecrated by time. The mausoleum was the main entrance, with armored beings guarding to make sure the grave was defended. Undead skeletons spawned from the tombs to complete the atmosphere.

The first three floors are also made as undead-based areas. There was no leading NPC for any of them, but Peroroncino had an idea for an undead vampire as the main floor guardian, and no one else seemed particularly against the idea.

However, the lecherous grin as he started to create the base appearance of his NPC made people like Java keep away for now. Momonga was nice enough to suffer through it, and people like Flatfoot were surprisingly fine with the whole conversation into themes like eroge and romance.

The second floor was the creepiest, Bukubukuchagama had told her, shivering. Bugs were not her thing. The creation that Luci•Fer had made, Kyouhukou, was located there. Around half of the guild was disgusted by his outward appearance, which was both ironic and a bit funny to hear. He looked pretty cute in her opinion, but maybe that was just her.

Tabula Smaragdina visited this floor the second most often, when he wasn't looking over the other floors and the throne room where he had his own projects. He was very secretive about it and forbid anyone from visiting for now. Java was a bit excited to see what they looked like, so she messaged him often anyway.

The fourth floor was an underground lake with a cave setting, dim lighting equal to what she had seen in Qeizodis' lair. It was very atmospheric, and the fish swimming within were both lifelike and scary. Java watched them for hours at a time, wondering if anyone came by to feed them or if they were self-sustaining. The growing plants around the lake's edge and further down confirmed the latter.

She did feed them when no one else was watching. It gave her a good feeling.

The fifth floor was a glacier. There were ice storms and an area of effect that would make it hard for those without cold resistance, giving both a slow debuff and ice damage, but recently Tabula had realized that this was not cost-effective and turned it off. There was an insectoid monster near the edge of one of the icebergs, pale blue and enormous in size.

Warrior Takemikazuchi greeted her there. "Yo."

"Is this your NPC?" Java inspected the hard plated armor, similar to the armor on a beetle. He held a halberd equal to his size, large and imposing and even bigger than the average battle axe. "He's pretty cool. Sorta reminds me of Touch Me."

"I've always wanted to make an insect-based avatar," Takemikazuchi confessed, "and this was my next-best opportunity other than changing my own appearance. That's pretty hard to do, though, so I'll be satisfied with just this."

"Can I read through it?"

Takemikazuchi laughed nervously, one hand up on the back of his head. "I didn't exactly finish it, but sure!"

The description was basic, but it fit Takemikazuchi's personality entirely: a strong sense of justice, a bit proud, with an urge to fight in a duel worthy enough for his skills. The NPC's name was Cocytus. His skills were ice-based, and he had multiple weapons available that he could wield with all of his hands. Takemikazuchi patted his creation's shoulder, leaping off from the side of the iceberg and hovering in midair.

"I put a lot of work into this place. Now, watch this," he called, then pointed toward the frozen seas below them. "[Summon Ice Serpent]."

There was a large shadow passing underneath them as the head of the serpent broke through the ice, unleashing a torrent of water that Java avoided by flying over it. The creature gazed at them with one glowing yellow eye, body just above the surface, before diving back under into the depths of the ocean.

"This floor is pretty amazing," Java told him aloud, wondering if the ice would regenerate itself or if it would remain broken. The floor did fix itself, the iceberg fusing back together until it was in its original state. "Was this all your doing?"

"I asked Blue Planet and Ancient One for a little help," Takemikazuchi admitted, "but yeah. Punitto Moe came by to look earlier, but I think he's looking more at the NPC skills rather than actually making his own."

"Actually, I talked with Tabula a little earlier," Java remembered. "He wanted to put one of his NPCs on this floor. He's made three so far, and all of them are so detailed. Somebody's probably going to have to remind him that we're sharing the data on the customization and he's gonna have to tone it down a little."

"Oh, jeez," Takemikazuchi sighed, putting his head in his hands. "Anyway, thanks for dropping by! Tell Touch Me that I finished my NPC first, so he's gonna have to pay up."

"You two were betting on this?" Java laughed, and teleported to the seventh floor.

This part of the dungeon was lava-based. Volcanic rock glowed with red cracks on the ground, visibly warping the air with the heat. Rivers of lava burned scores into the earth, black molten chunks moving slowly past her. The difference in floors was quite obvious, as fire-elemental damage was put as a field effect but also stopped by Tabula. There was a fatigue debuff, however, that Java promptly ignored.

"Oh, you came!" Ulbert turned toward her, Az'gathan right behind him. "Az'gathan's been trying out some of the settings on my floor. This place does have a cleaner layout now."

"He is making seven Evil Lords under the names of the Seven Sins," Az'gathan muttered to her, stepping forward to whisper in a quieter voice, though he seemed pleased about the whole prospect. "I have aided him slightly and gave him other suggestions. Think nothing of it."

"I see," Java replied, also slightly relieved. That would've been a real mess to sort through if the two different groups met. "How are you feeling about the NPCs in general?"

"I am interested," Az'gathan said. "They are made differently than me, because loyalty is coded within them and they have not seen the outside world. I feel slight pity for how they will live on."

Java likened them personally to children of the Supreme Beings. That was the feeling she had gotten from Yggdrasil when Time was created, turning over and over like an ever-spinning hourglass before unwinding both past and future. Her heart panged with loneliness.

She tried not to think about it anymore.

"I wonder when they'll finally gain sentience," Java wondered as Ulbert began checking over his World Item again. It had taken the form of a series of blades, the properties of which Java did not know. [Billion Blades] didn't seem like a very intimidating name when looking at the actual object(s), but maybe it did hold some terrifying properties. "They seem to be only able to obey commands."

"Hey, Ulbert, are all of these Evil Lords your NPCs?" She asked, looking around. "They all look pretty strong, but it'll be pretty hard to give all of them the right amount of data by spreading it so thin. Unless you bought a cash item, of course."

"Of course not," Ulbert scoffed. "My NPC is over there. He isn't done yet, but I'll bring him over. Demiurge!"

The temple they were standing on was made of white marble, and as the demon marching toward them quickly ascended the stairs Java looked over Ulbert's shoulder at the stats. "You've pretty much min-maxed him," she noted. "Takemikazuchi did that too."

"His karma level is -500," Az'gathan added, nodding. "That sounds appropriate."

"Of course it does," Java sighed, reading through the data. "Oh, he's a shapeshifter! That's really cool."

Java peered past the demon's glasses and into his strange-looking eyes, pointing it out to Ulbert. "Is there any specific reason for the diamonds?"

"Oh, those." He nodded. "Well, he's inhuman, isn't he? I thought that if anything, he should try his best not to hide it, but because Momonga told me about how people would get too creeped out I compromised. The glasses don't hide everything, and now he looks even more befitting as a strategist and executioner."

"Ah."

Ulbert listed off his various personality traits, some of them being his sadistic cruelty when dealing with humans and the care he gave to his tools and minions. Ulbert was a sucker for coldhearted antagonists, Java thought, moving to the next floor before her ears decided to fall off. All of the NPCs she'd seen so far were incredibly detailed, and she was excited for the last few floors because of this.

She said her goodbyes to both Ulbert and the NPCs before continuing. Az'gathan stayed on the seventh floor.

The eighth was Java's favorite. It was guarded by what Tabula regarded as some of the strongest NPCs, one of which was an immortal human miko. (She should probably never meet Demiurge, then, Java thought, sweating a bit at the thought. Those floors were dangerously close to one another, too.) The NPC's purpose was to guard the World Item resting there and to escape before the item was taken. Victim and Aureole Omega were their names.

It was the floor itself, however, that captured her attention the most.

The Cherry Blossom Sanctuary was where the miko and her servants lived. The World Item [Holy Grail] was held there, closely kept and watched over by their residents who stopped their duties as Java peeked inside. The Tree of Life named Sephiroth stood on the other side of the floor, tall and awe-inspiring, and the angel named Victim held his place near the topmost branches, floating about freely.

Java had given a lot of reminders to Tabula in the hopes that it would look somewhat like Yggdrasil in its prime, and it did. The leaves were golden, the tree everlasting in youth, and it was so similar that she felt as if she would start bawling her eyes out at any second.

This floor gave her pleasant memories, so in return she gave back to the residents. She had added whatever she thought would be useful, such as creating small pools of clear freshwater that the fairies could drink from and fruit that grew continuously from a plate near the shrine the miko lived in.

They were meager offerings, but for a moment she felt as if she had done something good.

She came most often to this floor just to look at the tree, fawning over its petals and the beings surrounding it, fairies flitting about. Momonga teased her about how she practically lived there at some point, but it reminded her most of home, her own place next to Yggdrasil.

She talked to the NPCs, not just the 8th floor but the others as well. This was where she felt most comfortable with sharing stories, wondering if they could listen. Az'gathan even stayed away during those times as to respect her privacy.

She felt a bit sad at the thought of it.

This floor was not just for decoration, as it was the final defense to the Great Tomb of Nazarick. She and several others had worked on some of Victim's stats, using him as a self-destructive angel able to destroy even skills and life resistance.

The ninth floor was an amalgamation of all the interests the guild members had from the real world, along with rooms for both players and NPCs. There were large communal baths, clothing and grocery stores, salons, a bar, and other places that she would normally not see in YGGDRASIL. This floor was purely for decoration and partly made as a joke, but Java found this extremely beneficial if the NPCs were to learn of the world their creators had lived in.

Touch Me had been working on his NPC, Sebas, somewhere around here. She was interested in looking at his stats, but the player in question seemed to be elsewhere and probably not in Nazarick.

There were several maids in one of the staff rooms. Java peeked in to look more closely at them.

"A slime, an arachnoid, a robot, a Dullahan, a werewolf, and a doppelganger," she observed. "The Pleiades maids. Oh, I think Sebas Tian was supposed to be the leader, I heard that from Touch Me recently. Yuri Alpha is deputy leader. Aw, man, Aureole probably really misses you guys."

They remained silent.

"I haven't heard much from the others, since you were supposed to be a secret like Tabula's creation, but I overheard a lot of things about you all and I think everyone came out great. They really worked hard on you. Good luck," she said, waving to the strange penguin NPC waddling behind them before leaving to the final floor where Tabula Smaragdina should still be.

Nazarack's free data had been wildly consumed by Tabula at a fast pace despite the twenty and counting members that made up their guild.

Using up most of the money in his system, Tabula spent cash items to increase the data size until he had added details to about a fifth of the Great Tomb as a whole, which was impressive and terrifying at the same time.

Java wondered if he would be spending just as much effort on his NPCs, maybe more.

There were two World Items in the throne room: one of them was [The Throne of Kings], which Java had tried to sit on once only to get repelled like a jet pack, while the other was [Ginnungagap], laid out somewhere within the hall. Java passed through and found him at the end of the room, next to the Throne and working meticulously while hunched over.

"Knock, knock," Java called out, and Tabula's head whipped towards her with alarming speed.

"Oh, jeez, do you even have footsteps? Or better yet, a nametag with a bell attached?" Tabula let out a breath, stepping aside so Java could stand next to him. "Your disappearing nametag would be optimal for reconnaissance and ambush, but it makes it even harder to track you down on the active roster. I didn't even see you coming into the room!"

"Just get better eyes," Java joked, and ducked the swipe made by Tabula's tentacles.

"Almost done with her settings, but here she is," Tabula gestured to the NPC, waving in suppressed excitement as he shared the tab with her. "Albedo, step forward."

The number of commands he had placed in her along with the actual character's behavior massed up to about 70 pages. Thank god there was endless scrolling and a bar to use on the side; otherwise, she might have gotten lost. Java read through it in full, listening to Tabula point out several more things in the description as she went through.

"Holy shit, Tabula, you've outdone yourself," she said, then squinted. "Though I think that making her this conniving is a bit too much. Instead of this, why not add more positive traits like-"

They continued talking far past night time, bantering back and forth with ideas and counter-ideas. Java gave out a few suggestions that Tabula seemed to be struggling over and most of them were shot down. It seemed like he was quite picky about what type of contradictions Albedo should have, being the control freak that he is, but a few of her tips did get accepted in the end.

For example, Albedo was no longer a 'bitch', but she did have a tendency to keep personal matters close rather than share everything to her creators. Java would definitely do that herself if put in that situation. Everyone kept secrets, why would they want to share their worst fears to the being they look up to the most?

"She tells them to the people she trusts the most," Tabula corrected the data crystal, then closed it with a snap. "That's finished. Now, I need to move Nigredo to the fifth floor."

Tabula had come by to drop one of his NPCs, one that he had most definitely finished. Rubedo, the new name read. Java read through the settings, quite interested in the being he had created. It was definitely something.

"She has a heart set on destruction," Tabula had mentioned. "She may look like an angel, but she will turn her back on Nazarick in a heartbeat if it ever keeps her prisoner. She and Nigredo are polar opposites, with Nigredo having a grotesque appearance but a kind personality."

"Oh, jeez," Java sighed, glancing up at Sephiroth forlornly. "Gap moe again? With all the traits of a World Enemy?"

"Shut up," he replied, patting Rubedo's head. "She's perfectly balanced now."

"She is literally the strongest NPC. Don't worry, Rubedo, this old geezer won't touch another hair on your head with his manipulative ways," Java stage-whispered as she pretended to block an incoming attack, earning an actual smack to the head by Tabula.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"No, it didn't."

_Once Java did leave, Tabula turned back to Rubedo, a contemplative look in his eyes. "Well, maybe Java was right..."_

Java had looked around on all of the floors in hopes of seeing the Lord of Helheim somewhere around, but he hadn't shown up again. He did not grace her with his presence for approximately twenty-four more hours until she saw him again in outer edges of the swamp, checking out the undead creatures walking through in order to see how far they went.

"Hey!" Java sprung toward him, fully intent on hugging him until he fell over by using bone-crushing strength, but he sidestepped her as she tumbled into several bushes. "Hey, wait, I have a question!"

_"Hello,"_ the Lord of Helheim replied, though his gaze was on the tomb where his former servants had inhabited. "_Feel free. Ask away."_

_"_One of the attacks Asura used, the primal elementals," Java mentioned, face becoming grim. "He summoned a bunch of monsters. I've seen them being used before, and with most of the moves that he had, I was really impressed by them so I asked the players from YGGDRASIL. They mentioned that it was normal for monsters to have attacks that the players can't access and that they didn't recognize the names of those spells. Do you know what those attacks are? Are they not from Tier Magic?"

"..._Long ago," _the Lord of Helheim began with a tired slump to him that Java could not help but feel guilty for, "_before the Six Great Gods came to this world, magic still existed. There was runecraft and wild magic, along with martial arts and talents that the players had never seen. These were traditional arts used by the people living here. But when Tier Magic was introduced, our magic became long-forgotten, losing purpose and followers as they turned to the magic that players had."_

"But the dungeons kept them."

_"They chose to keep them. The game's creators made it so."_

"But I'm sure they don't know about the real world within this game."

"_Yes," _he concluded, after a short pause. "_I believe they don't."_

Java frowned at the pause, but nodded. It was impossible for it to be otherwise. YGGDRASIL, the game, and Yggdrasil, the realm, were phased into each other at some points and very different at others. The NPCs were self-aware to a certain point. However, the players could not see the player nametag. Therefore, the NPCs were not players.

She was really going to have to do something about this game/not-game.

Java couldn't even see the nametags or access any of the things that the players could, but she could still be recognized as human. Even if NPCs didn't have the player sign above their heads, they still did have titles to label them, and monsters had health and mana bars as if it were normal.

She wanted to test out the limitations of her abilities. So she came back to the eighth floor of Nazarick, where Victim and Rubedo kept watch.

"Alright," she said softly, facing away from them so that she could concentrate. "Let's go for it."

The blank data crystal opened up to her at a single thought, cursor blinking on the screen as her fingers hovered. She had been unable to access the settings herself and had to ask a guild member to open it up for her, which made sense because she wouldn't be able to access it anyway. However, on her own, she was unsure of the player controls and what her own capabilities were.

Was she even able to make an NPC?

Java pressed down on a key. The first letter appeared - and stayed.

"Oh, good," she sighed, leaning back in relief. She typed in the base character description, unsure of what exactly to put it as. A golem? A dragon? An insectoid?

It should fit the theme of the place she stayed in the most, she thought, looking around at the other two and at the floor itself. She didn't care much about whether its use was optimized or not, but a humanoid creature would be easiest. She herself was human, and it would be quite awkward if the heteromorphic race she created had a penchant for eating humans in its past time or something.

But then again, she was creating its personality, wasn't she?

Java had quite a few issues with creating things, not just the moral ethics of picking every attribute. She had never created anything before. She destroyed. That was her purpose.

Yggdrasil was kind, but then it had died, and since then time had always stood alone. On the strings of the universe, pouring past history and present and future, it could not do anything other than flow. It was always present, and stretching from its birth all the way to the end of life itself she had never even had the thought of making something new.

It was not her role to be god, she argued to herself. It was impossible.

But now that it was, Java didn't know what to create.

_What did Yggdrasil do to make things so easily? _Countless beings, from four-legged wolves to eight-eyed spiders, winged birds to mankind, she had seen them all be brought to life from clay.

"I..."

The thought struck her hard. The screen faded away.

"What is wrong?" Az'gathan asked from her side, brow furrowing. She didn't know how long he's been standing there.

"I...I don't know what to make."

"Make a demon."

"No, Ulbert already made one!"

"Two demons."

"Are you on drugs?"

_"Hmm... making an NPC?" _Asura settled beside her casually on her other side, leaning back on his six arms._ "Seems a bit too late for that, Java."_

They could both hear the sound of water, trickling from the fountain near the shrine's yard. Java rubbed her ear slowly, wondering if she was having sound hallucinations.

Reality registered after a couple of seconds, and her neck nearly snapped with how fast she turned toward the statue, mouth agape.

"Wha-"

_"I am alive, it seems," _Asura mused, raising two arms to form a halfhearted shrug._ "Well, I cannot say that I'm very surprised. You did seem strange from the first time we've met, and I had assumed that you weren't human from the very beginning."_

"I'm human," she proclaimed weakly, refusing to say otherwise, but Asura's smile only grew wider.

_"Of course," _he deferred._ "Java the human. I must have made a mistake."_

Az'gathan's tail aimed toward the statue's throat.

"Who are you?" He asked abruptly.

"_How_ are you?" Java added with a happy grin. Asura smiled briefly.

_"The fifth boss of the former Great Tomb of Nazarick, at your service." _Asura stood and bowed. _"Pleased to meet you."_

"Is he strong?" Az'gathan turned to Java, a gleam in his eye. "Weaker than you. But is he stronger than me?"

"Maybe. Probably a bit smarter with his head, too."

Java tucked the pincer jab attack and clapped Asura on the back, laughing. "I can't believe you're alive."

_"I did not expect to return to life,"_ Asura admitted, one hand reaching to touch his forehead. _"This came as a shock to me when I opened my eyes and found myself here again. I do not know what you did, but because of you I am here."_

"Me?" Java tilted her head. "I didn't do anything."

_"Who else would be capable?"_

"The Lord of Helheim, maybe."

_"He is unable to do such a thing,"_ Asura rebuked matter-of-factly. "_I am sure it was you who saved me. I thank you."_

"I didn't-"

At this point, Asura slapped a stone hand over her mouth so that she could shut up and stop talking. Java was about to bite the offending hand but soon thought otherwise as she saw how cracked it was.

His entire body seemed battered, for that matter.

"Are you okay?" She asked, voice muffled because of the hand. He let go.

"_This was the state of my body when I returned," _Asura told her, clenching and unclenching his fists. "_I feel as if I have gotten weaker. There are a few fuzzy memories. I am not in optimal state after my resurrection."_

_"_That might be a normal thing after dying once," Java replied. "I could probably bring the rest of them back if I even knew how I did it. Oh, god, wait, what if your rebirth is a paradox, I'm so screwed..."

"_You will be fine," _Asura reassured her. "_It was likely resurrection, nothing else."_

Java was still worried, but she let the matter drop for now.

41 Supreme Beings. Ainz Ooal Gown had grown to having many more members than at its beginning nine, proving to become the strongest guild ranked first in invincibility. Maintaining the cost of the gold grew a bit more difficult after many others tried to conquer the dungeon and destroy them, but none of them managed to get through even the first floor. There was one group that might have cut close, barreling through to the fifth floor before falling to Cocytus and the serpent.

Because of the large amount of people coming to PVP, most of them grew extremely efficient in learning to strategize.

Java tried to tone down her attacks, but every single time she simply blasted through waves like they were nothing. Eventually, she gave up and stuck to tanking up damage and immobilizing them, though even then she messed up and killed somebody instead.

She gave up and began promptly killing players in quick succession.

She was pretty sure Tabula was getting suspicious. She made up something on the spot and said she was using cash items.

At their prime, Momonga seemed proudest of the guild they'd created. Java was glad for him: he seemed most at home when he was with his guild members, especially settling disputes between Ulbert and Touch Me. At this point, they had managed to reach a friendly rivalry that Takemikazuchi seemed jealous of.

However, this friendly disposition amongst the players didn't last for long. The first blow to the guild was Ancient One's resignment.

"I'm sorry," he said, bowing. "I have to stop playing the game. I'm moving to a different country soon for a new job, so I have to focus on maintaining work."

They fell like a stack of dominoes. One by one, the members began to leave Nazarick. Momonga grew more and more introverted as they left, even his closest friends and the most optimistic of the group leaving after real life called them back. There were people with job losses, others getting married and having to take care of their wives, and slowly Java realized what was happening.

This world was a game. The real world waited for them outside of YGGDRASIL.

She felt no remorse but said heartfelt goodbyes at each departure. She had found good friendships, traveled the nine worlds with them, PKed and learned all the spell sets that Tabula and Touch Me had drilled into her. It had been fun for them all.

Peroroncino had lost his job and had to struggle to find another one. Bukubukuchagama, who had always been one to help her brother despite the consequences, had said her goodbyes to her in the form of a bantering conversation. "Tell me if you need a tank and I'll come back just for you," she winked with a giggle.

"We were going to get you that World Item that could change your race into a heteromorphic character," Peroroncino said tiredly. It was his last time coming back on, but he managed to keep talking with her anyway. "Even if you still had doubts about wanting to use it, we could've figured something out."

Ulbert's goodbye was short and curt, much like his personality. He seemed to stutter at the end as Momonga made the suggestion that they should all meet up sometime, which didn't mean that he was against the idea.

Java would miss them.

"I'll see you later," Touch Me had said to them both. He had stayed behind to the end, and he gave his World Champion equipment to Momonga with a sad laugh. "Thank you for everything."

"Goodbye," Java said, waving as she smiled a little too brightly for it to be real. "Until next time."

The connection cut off.

They spent a while after that just maintaining the guild. A few of the members remained to help Momonga keep watch, but eventually they, too, logged off and stayed that way. Both Java and Az'gathan were busy moving stuff around on their own respective floors, though they all did end up meeting each other frequently as they passed by.

"How's the NPC handling?" Java peeked her head in, watching Az'gathan scouring the place as if he had claimed its territory. Which he technically had, as most of the floor's decor was his doing.

"They are all in working order," Az'gathan replied, but that only made Java frown.

"Still not free yet, huh?"

"No."

Momonga stood in the treasury, hands trembling, as she crouched down next to him and looked up at the showcases. All of their enhanced weapons and World Class Items, crapped out through days of grinding and leveling through extremely rare items, and the nights spent celebrating for it were on display before them.

She had found him like this, gazing up at the figures with longing.

"The game's ending soon," he sighed, staring down at the floor. Java blinked in surprise.

"It is?"

"You didn't know?" He looked up at her, skeletal face moving a little. "It's been announced a couple days ago. The game is going to end in about a week's time."

"Oh." Java put her hands to her head. "Oh, _shit."_

"What?" He asked, albeit a bit cautiously.

"I gotta go! [Message]!"

She rushed out of the room while ignoring Momonga's worried shouts, calling Az'gathan to tell him about the news.

_"I see."_

"Dude!" She skidded up back to the 8th floor, barging into the shrine where Aureole was on standby. The World Item was in her hands. "I just told you that the world was ending! Aren't you worried?"

_"We do not know if the world will end," _Asura mentioned, stepping up to walk alongside her as she checked all the NPCs. "_Do not fret so much."_

Java stopped in her tracks, still frowning. "The game is ending. There is a very big chance that it will destroy the entire system."

"_They think YGGDRASIL is a video game, do they not? We both know already that there are beings that say otherwise."_

"The Lord of Helheim," Java realized. "He already knew."

"_As did I."_

Java started from the first floor again. [Messaging] Momonga, she hurriedly asked the question that would help her the most in this situation.

"Can I borrow the [Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown]?"

"W-why?" Momonga asked nervously. They trusted each other enough that Momonga had shared their own personal lives, and they had been around long enough together that he knew she wouldn't do anything stupid with the Guild Weapon, but he still knew how dangerous moving it would be.

"You can do it instead, if you want. I'd just like to check something on each of the NPCs, starting from the first floor."

"It'd be better if it stayed as close to the throne room as possible," Momonga declined.

"Hm... what about from the fifth floor, then?"

"The Pleiades maids are on the ninth, why not go from top to bottom?"

The argument was quite useless since they were going to be looking at all of the NPCs anyway, but Java felt a bit of Momonga's old attitude return, that overwhelming worry over losing any of their important treasures. She felt relieved for that small victory.

Momonga came down to the ninth floor, the staff in hand. Java pointed at Sebas first. "Can you open the restricted access settings?" She asked.

He opened them and showed her the tab, flicking it over so they both could see. Momonga scrolled until she stopped him, pointing at the spot she wanted. "There."

Java read through the passage, growing more and more worried by the second. "Okay. Next one."

They went slowly through each of the floors, checking every Custom NPC that the guild had created. Momonga seemed to be thinking of some fond memories, having used some of them to help defend the dungeon from intruders, but Java was becoming more focused, flipping through the tablets with increasing efficiency.

"None of them have it," Java realized, stopping in her tracks. "It should've been obvious, but none of them have it."

"Have what?" Momonga asked, stopping as well.

Java shook her head, beginning to grin. "I should've made an NPC a long time ago," Java admitted to the Elder Lich, hands itching, "but it's better late than never. I'll show you as soon as it's done, Momonga."

"Huh-"

She was already gone, moving to where she had begun the whole process - the eighth floor.

* * *

Kyouhukou by himself makes me feel very bad for the rest of his family. He isn't able to leave and no one is coming through the teleportation circle to bring the cockroaches food, and honestly he's a really good character which makes it even worse that they have to resort to cannibalism.

Cockroach is best NPC

Anyway, the fourth chapter is done! Tell me if you think I'm too slow-paced or anything, because I do worry that it comes off weird. I realized that reading on the phone vs reading on a computer is a very different experience, so I'm making the text into shorter sentences so people can read more easily.

Thank you, as always, and I hope to see you in the next chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

Java creates an NPC and Nazarick finally comes to life.

* * *

Chapter 5

Footsteps echoed slowly throughout the halls of Nazarick as the Elder Lich made his final rounds. The [Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown] flicked forward, then back, as Momonga called it to and fro while he commanded the floating weapon's movements. It had been installed to understand and act accordingly during fights, but he was a little disappointed that they would never have to use that feature again.

Today was the last day for YGGDRASIL.

"They're all gone, huh," Momonga sighed, then corrected himself abruptly with a cough. "No, there are two still remaining. Honestly, though, could they not have come directly when I [Messaged] them?"

The thought of those two made him feel slightly less alone, knowing they were roaming somewhere within the dungeon's walls. He waved a hand to check over the active roster, seeing the glowing points next to Az'gathan's name. Java's was blank, as usual. "They probably knew nobody would come. Herohero said he could be here but only for a short time, anyway."

There was silence. "God damn it," Momonga sighed as he heard two more sets of people heading towards him at top speed, treading a bit too fast for comfort.

Java skidded to a halt and nearly slammed into him, stopping just before she rustled the robes the Lich wore around his person and breaking into the cartilage of his ribs. "Sorry - I'm - late," She panted, putting her hands on her knees and catching her breath. Az'gathan seemed entirely too composed in comparison, which made Java try and kick him in the back of the leg in order to force him to crumple. It worked: he bent down slightly, shooting her a side glare. "Ha! Suck it!"

"There's no problem," Momonga replied, easing her worries. Az'gathan's tail suddenly lashed out in a vicious jab at her back, knocking Java over as she lost her balance. She choked and lost all the air in her lungs as she fell to the floor, twitching, and their skit made Momonga want to both cry and chuckle at the same time.

"I heard Herohero was arriving," she finally said after recollecting herself, brushing off the dust particles from her arms. "Is anyone else going to come?"

"No," Momonga said after a slight pause. "Probably not."

He had been optimistic. Wishful thinking on his part, which might have lasted a bit longer if he were more desperate. But now two more members of the guild were here, one being an oddity, the other an extreme roleplayer like Momonga had been. These two made quite the team, each of them powerhouses in their own regard.

Momonga caught himself. He coughed, gesturing to the guild hall and the meeting room ahead. "Anyway, shall we go see him now?"

"Hella," Java replied quite absentmindedly. Momonga smiled.

He had first picked up the game after seeing so many news advertisements on it while scrolling through forums and other entertainment videos hosting MMOs on the internet, and he'd been far too excited to try it out to get the full experience. The customization process had been far too hard only a few seconds in as he had checked through all the races previously while purposefully avoiding the more biased commentators on game forums who'd gotten a pre-release version.

He had spent hours reading all the character descriptions for the avatars. His attention had been drawn the most to the heteromorphic options in the checkout display, rotating the screen as they performed various actions with good stats.

_Overlord,_ his race read. He had liked the way it looked, with features that looked far too real to say anything otherwise.

He thought back on the first days they had when they had first formed the clan, struggling to create something from the game they had so much trouble working against. Momonga had quickly realized that the game was very difficult, throwing the players against each other while outside of safe zones and villages, and because he had not known about how heteromorphic characters were targeted against he could not do much when he had entered the player system.

_Only one avatar per player, _the game had blared out at him as he tried to make a new character.

He would have to delete his old version if he wanted to replace it.

He didn't want to give up quite yet, though could not do much of anything after that. He had blamed it on the developers, the lack of a proper manual, and the players who continued to PK him despite his lacking any worthwhile EXP or items.

And so he struggled while finding friends, leveling up again, building up racial skills and even roleplaying when he managed to have the chance. The PK system did not change, but Momonga's opinion of it did as he informed himself on how to best optimize his settings. It became fun at times, terrifying at others. He was surprised at how wholeheartedly his group managed to gain intelligence and ambush enemies, gaining traction for a better reputation as they did so.

He had learned that humans were terrible. That was the whole reason why heteromorphs had joined a clan against them.

Despite everything, despite the formation of the clan and the players he had become close companions with, he had been glad when their only human player had joined the team. In a way, some of the hatred he and Ulbert had maintained towards human players had been quelled with her presence, and even more possibly, Touch Me's bias against Ulbert had been as well. Those two used to be at each other's throats whenever they came to a disagreement, and although Momonga had interfered during those times as a third party he had never seen anyone else quiet them down as much as she had.

Even he had been skeptical in the beginning when Touch Me had first announced Java's position as a member. It was completely contradictory to the purpose of their guild, all of them being heteromorphic characters, and once she had participated while even giving them World Items they had accepted her halfheartedly. It felt as if she were giving them offerings, a gift to prove that she was nicer than the others.

But then Momonga easily saw how she broke animosity between members, both internal and external disputes between players calling out names and being unsportsmanlike in their playing. Java being human had surely thrown them for a loop. Touch Me had seen the potential in that and gave her credit for it.

"Bring me, don't bring me, it doesn't matter. I'll still be able to talk to you, after all."

And, believe it or not, that happy-go-lucky manner that Java had given through those confident words was what convinced him the most. Java would not betray them. They knew that.

Peroroncino and Bukubukuchagama had also placed their full faith in her. "She'll do fine," the birdman said, one of his four iridescent wings fluttering over his shoulder. "She's a little weird the first time you meet her, but I promise you that she cares a lot."

"If we have a human NPC made in our own dungeon, why not a human player as well?" Bukubukuchagama asked, and the double meaning behind those words had made Ulbert pause in contemplation.

She was referencing Aureole Omega, the youngest of the Pleiades maids. She was made to be immortal, kind, and with a karma rating over 400. Java had spent a lot of time with the creation on the eighth floor, making them quite the interesting pair.

That notion didn't change the guild members' opinions entirely, of course. Some still had distrust due to not knowing her as well, but Momonga's word had put them at ease. Others had not even known that Java had been human at all, much to his own surprise.

"You can't even see her nametag," Nishikienrai protested hotly. "How was I supposed to know? I thought she was just a doppelganger or something!"

"Perhaps even a homunculus," Flatfoot added, earning a look from Touch Me. "Anyway, I thought you were joking about the human thing."

"When do I joke?"

"All the time!"

Human or not, Java's assistance did give them a lot of help. She was an all-around player, and her stats were somehow far better in both raids and PVP situations. Tabula had bombarded her with questions when she had defeated a raid boss after hitting it only once when it was at 50% HP, most of them which Java replied with an "uhh... cash items?"

"Cash items don't get you as far as to one-shot bosses whenever the chance arrives," Tabula fumed. "Or to heal someone from 1 to max hp. Or to do _both _at the_ same exact time."_

"I'm a good multitasker?"

Funny moments aside, Java had been online more than any other member, even himself. Az'gathan went offscreen at times when he needed to go, green blinking dot turning grey to show that he was in the middle of something or AFK, but ever since the guild was made she had always been on one of the floors, busy helping someone else out with flavor text or writing up a description for the floor's map.

"I never sleep," she replied when asked what time she was resting. Momonga had laughed, thinking it had been a joke. Java had gone along with it.

"You said you would've finished your NPC," Momonga asked her now. He had been anticipating its completion, but Java had yet to reveal anything about it. _A secret, _she had said surreptitiously. He could see that she was spending a large chunk of her energy on it due to her lack of energy, the dull color in her eyes, and the slight slumping of her shoulders. Momonga wondered if she was feeling the physical strain after spending a lot of time hunched over, muttering over what commands to put into her character.

"Fine, fine, but after the meeting," she said, turning her head forward.

Momonga could see the blank stare settling into the lines on her face, still wondering where in the world she had gotten a cash shop item that could change the expression on her avatar.

"Of course," he replied.

The Round Table Room, otherwise known as the conference chamber for the Forty-One Supreme Beings. It was put aside on the 9th floor because of its similarities to conference halls in the real world. Java did not visit this room very often, but if anyone wanted to call a group meeting to discuss something with the rest of the guild members, then this was where they could do so.

Herohero popped up not long after they had taken a couple seats, the wide table accentuating just how many members had left the guild and who was left remaining. The slime that appeared from materializing his avatar into existence, a greyish tar-like substance that rolled and moved about continuously, was known as the strongest species of its race known as the Elder Black Ooze.

"Welcome to our feast of the Almighty," Java intoned seriously, raising a goblet from her inventory that Momonga had not remembered seeing before, and drinking from it with exaggerated motion as if knocking back a large quantity of alcohol. Herohero blinked and waved hello, amused by the place he had found himself in.

"Hello to you too, Java, Az'gathan," he said warmly, nodding to both of them and turning to Momonga. "How's it going?"

"Not good," Momonga sighed, placing his skull on one elongated hand while tapping the ebony wood of the table with his other hand roughly. "No one else responded."

"That sucks," Herohero agreed, nodding his head in a fatigued manner. "I've been tired a whole lot recently, too. Sorry I haven't been on a lot, my job has been overworking me with extra hours."

"No, that makes sense." Az'gathan shook his head slightly, sharp horns tilted sideways as the demon moved something from his inventory and onto the table as well. "Resting is just as important as working the mind and for fulfilling your purpose. Take care in making sure your own health and sleep schedule has been fully recuperated."

"Wow, you said something smart for once," Java exclaimed in surprise.

Az'gathan threw a different goblet at her - where did he even get that thing? Momonga had never seen it from any of the decorations lying in the dungeon or treasury. Or rather, that reaction felt almost pre-designed even before the object had been thrown. How did he know?

"Ahem," Momonga coughed, stopping Java before she could retaliate. "Anyway, we're glad you could come."

"Thank you for inviting me," Herohero laughed lightly. "When I heard about YGGDRASIL, I knew I had to log in at least once before the game ended. I'm-"

He cut off with a yawn. "Sorry, I'm... really tired..."

His head was bobbing forward. Java leaned across the side of the table, trying to catch some of the dripping bubbles falling and morphing back into the slime using the cup she had equipped, but Momonga smacked her with a glare.

She withdrew with a shrug and a grin.

"It's alright," Momonga said, feeling sorry for the guy. "You don't have to stay if it's straining you too much."

"No, one second," Herohero yawned, trying to blink himself back awake. Since his character didn't really have a face, it appeared above his head as a tired emoticon. "I just wanted to say that I'm glad to see you again, one last time. Even if there isn't another game after this, I hope that we can all meet up somewhere in the future."

As the guy was practically falling asleep in his seat, Java told him to just get offline, basically kicking him out so he could finally get the rest he deserved. That gesture had been a small mercy to both him and Momonga who had not wanted to say goodbye yet but could not muster up the courage to say so. Java spun back around to face him once Herohero was gone, serious mein returning.

"I get it," Java said, falling back against her own seat with ease. "Goodbyes suck."

"Yes," Momonga agreed, laughing. "Thank you."

She got up with a grin, pointing to the staff located on the far wall of the conference room, hovering where Momonga had put it. "Anyway, ready to head on to the Throne Hall? I'll catch up once I get my NPC to move."

"You haven't even put move commands in yet?" Momonga groaned, putting his face back in his hands and the bony fingers curving into his sockets. "That's, like, the first thing anyone does when making a Custom NPC."

"I like going backwards," Java retorted, disappearing in a flash. There was no sound when the teleport was made, not even the bell chiming, which was another peculiarity with her spells.

He ignored that for now.

"**[Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown]**," he intoned, and the staff flew back over next to him where he grabbed the hilt with one outstretched hand. "Az'gathan, will you be following?"

The demon nodded his head and disappeared off to who knows where. Momonga blinked, turned, and began heading back down the hall where he could open up a [Gate] to the 10th floor.

Summoned back to the Room of the Pleiades Six Stars, Momonga deactivated the elemental traps within the hall and began walking through the Lemegeton hall, where the 67 Golems had been placed to guard the entryway. The stone carvings engraved into the wall showed no sign of age or wear, just as pristine as the day they had made them. They were lesser beings made from Iron and precious metals, although they did decide to collect a large amount of Dragon Bones in order to put as much data as they did into it.

"AI programming is really ineffective, though," Momonga sighed, looking up at the golems. The NPCs that didn't respond to multiple key commands or move accordingly were often terribly cumbersome, and despite Tabula's full use of their data crystals they would still fall quickly to an evenly-matched player.

He opened the Administration System with the three short words, "Master Source — Open."

It was the last day, but he still wanted to check. The maintenance costs seemed trivial to him since they had amassed so many treasures over the years, and intruders rarely even made it through the front door. The NPC numbers appeared, and he noticed the one extra that had not been there originally.

"Ah."

He closed it quickly before he could read any further.

"It's probably the NPC," he thought aloud, shaking his head. "It should be a surprise. I should wait."

He scrolled down the list of NPC names instead, reading over each of them slowly as he thought of each creator that had worked in its completion. Ashurbanipal, the Grand Library, was given a number of undead NPCs made solely of skeleton mages and Elder Lich creations, made out of both animal and human bones as extra weight. Titus Annaeus Secundus was provided by the collected use of Tabula Smaragdina and Bellriver, who had carried around extra bones in his inventory box in case of an emergency shortage.

With two large horns curving from his skull, it was obvious that his head came from that of a goat or a ram. He was written to speak in a Shakespearean dialect, something that Tabula had great fun in writing. He was able to transcribe many books from their world and into the game, downloading all the possible information they needed so that logging off and finding cheats would not be as urgent.

He finally reached the Throne Hall, where he met the Pleiades maids on standby. Sebas stood in front of the line, the leader of the NPC group.

"Follow," Momonga ordered distractedly, still reading through the list. "Huh. No one ever made it this far, so it's probably fine to move you one last time."

With that command, they maintained a line behind him as he headed down and opened the large double doors, riddled with grooves and edges from the designs implanted into them and letting pale light part through the entrance. The chandelier swung slightly as Az'gathan greeted him, already waiting.

"The world finally ends," the demon sounded, though his voice was a bit sad as he said this. "I had been hoping it would be more...climactic."

"Me as well," Momonga chuckled, though it was not a jovial noise. "I am glad, however. At least I can remember the memories we've collected together, even if the pieces themselves will disappear in the end."

The Administration System let him read the character descriptions one last time, checking over their strengths and weaknesses, what each player had been thinking when they made their own signature on the Great Tomb of Nazarick. It had been quite some time ago when it had all begun...

Time was a pestilence. Time was a miracle. It was both and neither and everything all at once.

The years in their nascent journey in the top ranking dungeons, Ainz Ooal Gown had worked extremely hard to gather all the materials and create the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, the culmination of their efforts. Joining together for that single purpose had been - dare he say it - exciting. It gave them incentive to outdo each other and to carry something important, lasting even beyond their own statuses as Supreme Beings. To focus on what they'd already done was rewarding, giving him the slight hope that they'd all meet again somewhere as Herohero had mentioned.

It was slightly bitter, the feelings he had within his hollowed cavity of a heart. He was glad that the players who hadn't quit had stayed with him, but at the same time he wished there had been more appearances. Well, it wasn't like they could access their old avatars anyway, but...

Right now, there wasn't much time left. Momonga leaned back, choosing to sit down on the throne as he waited for the final arrival.

"Where's the Throne Room again?"

Speaking of final arrival, they heard Java's voice echoing through the chambers as she stumbled through the hall, grumbling to herself. "God damn it, why are there so many identical-looking doors..."

"Ah," Momonga said when she finally found the right one. "There you are."

Java laughed nervously as she walked up next to the throne where Momonga had decided to sit, choosing to sit down due to the lack of any other seats. The red velvet draping over the stairs and the throne itself, sharp spires piercing the sky, had been thoroughly checked and showed no scuffs or any sign of wear. Java should be fine without contracting some sort of malware or sickness. "That was a pretty close call, I almost messed up a whole line by accident..."

"Well?" He asked. "Are you ready?"

Java turned to the hall, and with a step forward the NPC moved.

The flickering light gliding slowly into the Throne Room was no bigger than a speck, growing closer as it followed Java like a lantern light. It looked like a Will-O'-Wisp, which Momonga quickly confirmed as its NPC name was added to the roster.

"Oh, I see," Momonga said as it halted in place. Java was using a voiceless command and a console, looking over it with a contemplative glance. "What's its name?"

"Ithersta," she replied. She seemed to be waiting for something, staring hopefully for a sign but wilting when it did not happen.

Momonga put aside the suspicious behavior for now. With the countdown on his headset beeping, he knew that they had reached the final minute of YGGDRASIL.

"It's ending soon," Momonga said to them, and Az'gathan blinked.

"What time?"

"Around fifty seconds now."

They had peculiar headsets or they had accidentally set it up wrong, based on his deductive reasoning. Maybe they had bought it from a different continent or part of the country, since it was normally supposed to display the time in the upper right-hand corner. When Momonga had reminded them of this, they had both averted their eyes and could not seem to find what he had just told them.

It was probably a version bug.

"Thirty-seven seconds," he updated them now, and his forefinger was tapping the handrest resignedly. He had accepted it by now, after grieving over this loss for so long. This was their final departure.

Java's hands gripped tight on the display counter.

In old Norse mythology, Yggdrasil was known as the World Tree, an eternal ash tree made at the center of the universe holding together everything that lived from both earth and sky. It joined all the worlds together simply by branching them together, extending up and towards the heavens while its roots reached down into hell.

But even that description was too singleminded. Its earth was made of black dirt, the culmination of minerals rich with everything its people needed for sustenance, the process of combustion leaving behind fine particles of carbon composite. It had founded Asgard, home of the gods, where they would make scriptures of the laws that the world should follow in order to be good and true and living.

YGGDRASIL had been a one-of-a-kind. The storytelling had been immense, layers upon layers of worldbuilding that many worldwide DnD players could only hope to compete with. Acted upon by gamers, programmers, and artists alike, they had amassed a culture that could not be contained. Momonga closed his eyes, counting down with every tick of the digital clock.

_Ten... nine... eight..._

"Goodbye, to both of you," he said lowly, suddenly stifling the urge to cry. He urged it down, since it wouldn't show in his appearance but it would if he clicked the proper emoticon. "I'll see you sometime, right?"

"Of course," Az'gathan replied. "May we meet again."

_The timer wound backwards toward the final three numbers, its destination within reach. The shutdown system was supposed to be set appropriately. However, for a moment, the seconds turned astray, stopping for one full millisecond before the zero. It mistimed, spluttered, halted..._

_And turned **forward**._

* * *

Thanks for reading. Let's continue on!


	6. Chapter 6

oh man here it comes

* * *

Chapter 6

The NPCs trembled. Something cold, a feeling of being _alive_ washed over them, causing them to fall to their knees as they bowed low in agony.

The previous notice and the conversation Az'gathan had given them earlier, the one involving 'the world ending', had been engraved into their minds. They all knew what the next implication meant: no one could survive the death of any one world of Yggdrasil, let alone all nine. Not even the gods had such power. The fear clutched at them and held tight, but it was not because of the need for their own self-preservation.

Of course, they had never assumed the limits of the Supreme Beings. They were existences equal to that of gods, reaching up and ascending the realm of the immortal and untouchable. They had created beings with a single wave and a command. They had created life.

Albedo had wondered, once, if they could destroy it just as easily.

The denizens had never stepped foot outside the walls of Nazarick. They could only circulate stories, rumors of what the Supreme Beings had accomplished in the vain hope that they, too, could eventually accompany their creator in a fantastical conquest and receive ample amounts of praise in the process. They served to please, after all. Surely they have been made for one specific purpose.

To their gods - their reason for existence - they were keenly aware of every action they made. If one showed the slightest hint of displeasure or discomfort, they would execute a countermeasure immediately. Albedo herself would not share even the slightest bit of resistance if she had somehow ruined the plans of a Supreme Being and would off herself without hesitation. That was how deeply their loyalty ran inside them.

There had been some moments when Albedo had questioned why Tabula Smaragdina had left. She had faithfully completed her duties, had her stats perfected and rearranged and moved to completion, and yet her creator had abandoned her. Was she still somehow imperfect? Could she have done better? The worry pained her immensely, and she had spent many a night praying, hoping that one day he could at least grant her a reason. She could then be able to fix that problem.

But he never came.

_What are we but tools to the Supreme Beings? _

Horrified by the very thought, she clutched at her clothing until she could feel it close to tearing, chastising herself for even questioning the idea. Why could she ever assume that they should have any more worth than they had been given? They were to defend Nazarick to the death and to sacrifice their lives if necessary. Of course they were meant to be the swords and shields of the dungeon itself.

And yet there were moments, sometimes, where she had wondered if she were something more. There had been conversations during her creation that she had overheard, things that had not been hidden from her in hushed tones that she assumed that she was allowed to be present for. Some had even been spoken to directly, once by Tabula, others by the Supreme Beings passing by.

One stood out to her in particular. However, it had not been her creator that had spoken those words - it had been Java.

"_Your sisters would be so proud of you."_

The Supreme Being who had spoken those words had been holding Albedo's settings tablet in front of her, reading what Tabula had written. Her expression had been so serious that it had stunned Albedo slightly. Her creator had laughed and took back the tablet, reading over the section that Java had read.

"_You think? She is what connects Rubedo and Nigredo together, after all. She is the second stage of alchemy, where the purification process occurs. She brings light and clarity to what has been taken apart to be used."_

_"Is that why you made her clothes white?"_

_"Of course! Because of the nigredo stage, the need for clearing away chaos is required. The breaking apart of matter and transforming it into something entirely knew requires some sort of consciousness, of realization, does it not? That is the meaning of Albedo: an awakening."_

_"You know, for all the stuff you know about darker topics like cults and sacrificing lambs to the evil lord Satan, this is a surprisingly lighter subject for you to concentrate on."_

_"It's all part of the process, Java. To complete something you should know how every part works!"_

_"Just to get back to the dark things again."_

_"Exactly."_

The idea that Tabula Smaragdina seemed to have in mind for her was that of a connector, to relate two entirely different personalities to each other in a way that would blend them together. She herself had never met her supposed sisters, but she was sure that if given the chance she would make sure to bring them along splendidly.

This lesser goal, however little it may have meant, would be her next purpose to fulfill when given the chance. She would have to meet these two creations and watch over them, just the way as she had been built.

That fact was not terrifying to her. On the contrary, it gave her a feeling of comfort. She would not have to struggle as those who lived outside the Great Tomb did as they searched vainly for their own purpose, toiling in their mistakes, wondering when their own revelation would come forth to them and show them their path. She already had hers laid out in front of her.

And now her world was crumbling. The end of Nazarick and the end of Helheim, but would it be the end of her creators as well? Is that the reason why they had left so long ago? In her heart, she felt calm, but now she had other matters to attend to.

More specifically, the Supreme Beings that were still in the room waiting with them.

"The world...is ending?" Sebas asked, sounding extremely pained, clutching at his own clothes as if he was tearing out his own heart. "Please leave at once. Your safety is required first and foremost, my lords."

Albedo blinked, wondering what was happening to her. The shivers were still wracking at her limbs and wings, making them spasm at seemingly random intervals as the slow and painful emotion called fear washed over her rational thought.

_The world was ending._

She could not bear to look up since she feared what would be showing on their faces, but she did so anyway.

"Momonga-sama?" She asked concernedly, wondering what had happened to bring them into such disarray, and more importantly, why they _were not escaping_. The Overlord stared off into the distance, Aura of Despair reaching out to grasp them by the throats before withdrawing like an ever-shifting wave. Java stared intensely at the Will-O'-Wisp, the most recent addition to Nazarick that Albedo had yet to meet, though as the god's eyes wandered to her in a slight calculative gesture Albedo realized her own insolence and quickly bowed her head again.

She asked her question with her eyes boring into the carpeted floor, not even allowing herself the luxury of looking anywhere near their feet. "I-Is something the matter, O Supreme Beings?"

"I believe..." Az'gathan, one of the three that had stayed behind for them, mused thoughtfully, "that we have finally been moved over."

"Oh, thank fucking finally," Java laughed, sounding rather cheerful for the grim outlook Momonga seemed to have in contrast as he stopped using command gestures with his long skeletal phalanges and stared unflinchingly at his own hands. Realization seemed to dawn on the Elder Lich's face, though Albedo surely wouldn't have known for what. "It's felt like years since I've waited for this."

"It has been years, Java."

"Oh. Whoops."

"Java...?"

Momonga's absentminded tone cut off as Java pointedly opened her bag and withdrew a small brown leather notebook, handing it to him and gesturing to Albedo and Sebas as she did so. He flipped it open carefully and read through what she had written, roving through the pages. Although Albedo could not have guessed what they were talking about, she averted her eyes accordingly as they conversed through non-verbal means. This was a private conversation not meant for their lowly minds.

Momonga seemed to accept whatever she had meant, though his form seemed to slump as if exhausted. Albedo was ready to betray her own duties as the respectful bystander and begin prodding him on what ailed him so, but then Az'gathan's tail flicked and she turned back to the Supreme Being standing tall in front of them.

"They're real..."

"Yes, they are."

Momonga took a moment to look up at her, eye sockets forming pinpricks of red, and she reached up to tap him on the cheekbone. He flinched when he both heard and felt it, the hollow tinging of non-flesh, and reached up with one skeletal hand to touch where she had tapped him.

"Momonga, do you understand yet?" She asked with the slightest tilt of her head, in which the guildmaster seemed to jerk abruptly, hold himself upright for a few seconds, then compose himself and settle down, completely placated. Az'gathan nodded a bit and the maids relaxed. It seemed that the problem had been taken care of.

"I am alright now. Thank you."

"Alright, people, arms at the ready," Java said, walking down the stairs as the befuddled maids and overseer snapped to attention. Momonga was still preoccupied going through a thin block of text, becoming impossibly still as his eye sockets dimmed to a low flicker. "The crisis of death has been averted. I'm going to want a visit from every floor guardian available, so please come to the - uh... where should we - oh, the sixth floor! Will you each move out and inform them individually? Albedo, Ithersta, please stay put."

"Of course," the Will-O'-Wisp murmured finally, and Albedo remained standing as the remaining people vacated the premises to wait just outside the door, beginning their own group [Message] calls. The ivory black hinges swung shut, and they all awaited Java's next order.

Only for said person to fall back and sit down cross-legged, grinning with surprising ease. Albedo nearly jerked forward - a Supreme Being could not sit on the floor, how could Albedo even-

"So, Ithersta," Java said in a comfortable position, "how are you feeling?"

The Will-O'-Wisp bobbed, and Albedo heard a slight hint of amusement as it replied, "I am all-too-composed, my friend. And you?"

"Just great. So..."

Another unspoken insinuation. Albedo could not pick up their cues, but there was one strong feeling that irked her immensely about how casually the light spoke like it was talking to an equal. '_My friend?'_ She mouthed, anger bubbling up until her hands clenched, causing the white gloves on her arms to wrinkle violently. But they were still speaking, and Albedo would not dare rebuke them during their conversation. She stared hard at a velvet crease in the carpet, wanting to move it back with a heel but remaining still as a statue.

Java turned to Albedo next, propping her head on both hands. "Albedo. Uh, what do you think of me? As a person?"

Albedo's golden eyes flickered back to the god, uncomprehending. Was the Supreme Being asking for an opinion of her character? "I-I don't quite understand, Java-sama."

"Well...do you hate me because I am human? Or do you think lesser of me, perhaps?"

"Of course not," Albedo responded, horrified. The mere thought sent shivers up the back of the succubus's neck at the tone of utter blasphemy. "You are a Supreme Being, far stronger than the average human. I would not dare to think of you as anything other than sacrosanct."

This unwavering loyalty seemed to surprise Java rather than soothe her as the girl leaned back uncomfortably. It seemed like it was borderline worshipping instead, something that Tabula definitely had not programmed into his own creation. She wondered if this had something to do with the Custom NPCs in general rather than a choice of their own design.

Or was it possible that they were responding to influences not encoded in them? For example, something that they had witnessed or overheard?

Java had puzzled over that thought before. The others had, so why wouldn't the NPCs of Nazarick? She prodded on. "If I wasn't strong but I was still a Supreme Being, what then? Would the title mean the same to you?"

Albedo spoke with unwavering conviction this time, standing a bit taller. "Of course. You are a god to us, one who had helped create the foundation of this Great Tomb and who stayed with us until now. Not once would I ever think of bringing arms against you."

"I see."

Java accepted this, her mind eased of one possible misinterpretation from Albedo's (often intimidating) facial expressions. "Hm. Ithersta, please check outside. Just in case, of course."

"Understood."

"Thanks for answering, Albedo. I really thought we would've died there for a second," Java laughed once the light flickered and disappeared, albeit a bit nervously this time. Albedo's gaze sharpened, brow furrowing.

"Az'gathan-sama had mentioned the 'world ending.' This couldn't possibly have meant that you also would've..."

Albedo's eyes widened as Java's insinuation became clear, and with her knees nearly falling to the floor she buckled, strength weakening. "I could not have figured - the mere thought of actually dying for mere servants such as-"

"Of course we wouldn't have abandoned Ainz Ooal Gown," Java denied vehemently. Momonga's hands tightened against the throne's handle, listening intently to the conversation. "If we all die, it is fitting that we should die together, shouldn't we?"

"Forgive my intrusion, but the other Supreme Ones had left for their own purposes," Albedo spoke, still facedown. "Please do not say such terrible things such as risking your lives for us. If the world had truly ended, we would've wished to guarantee your safety; otherwise, what good are we subservient beings for?"

"Then if we left behind our creations, then what good was our spending our efforts in the first place? We - I - most definitely care about your wellbeing."

Albedo's slitted pupils dilated a bit as her feathers shifted in repressed, comfited joy. "I am honored to be held in such regard, Java-sama."

"Java," the Will-O'-Wisp spoke, returning to its former position. Albedo jumped a little. "We've been transported."

"What? The dungeon?" Java asked. "Where to?"

"I do not know, but we are not residing within the marshlands anymore. There is nothing nearby. We are surrounded by plains."

"Is this what you meant when you said we were 'moved over'?" Albedo asked excitedly, wings flapping. Precognition was an amazing use of foresight, and to think that they were showing a clear example just now...!

"Ah." Az'gathan was about to reply, then paused. "I...suppose?"

"Let's not keep the others waiting," Momonga's voice echoed, and immediately the remaining people in the room got up on their feet.

"Your voice is way lower than before," Java laughed as Albedo and Ithersta fell behind them, ever-watchful. Albedo took in the other creation next to her warily: she had heard about it from the Pleiades maids, whose youngest sister had been stationed in the eighth room. The Pleiades were able to visit each other once, when Touch Me had asked where they should put the siblings and if any of them should be split up.

Again, Albedo wondered when she would be able to see her own sisters.

"It is," Momonga agreed after a moment's pause. Albedo tuned in to their conversation again, feeling a bit abashed for having such terrible focus.

"Is that all you have to say about it?"

"Hm. What about you, then?"

"Unlike you, I happen to be perfectly fine."

"Understandable. Though I had been assuming that you were playing a character that was younger than your actual age."

"Well, I guess you're not wrong?" Java tapped her chin and nodded quite sagely. "I'm eons older than you think, but probably not quite in the aspect you're thinking of."

_As in literally eons older than a human's average lifespan._

Momonga did not pick up that small detail, but Albedo did, for her eyes grew rounder and her hands clasped together in reverence. Oops, she probably shouldn't have let that slip.

"...I'm glad we're all still alive," Java murmured, and the group was reminded yet again of what was supposed to have transpired mere minutes before. Somewhere within him, Momonga could feel a part of his soul finally relax.

"Me too," he replied, and with that he created one [Gate] spell so that they could move on to the sixth floor.

* * *

Momonga did not quite understand what was happening. One moment he was sitting on the throne, waiting for the timer to stop ticking so that he could log off and remove his headgear so that he could go to bed, but in the next he had witnessed the strangest of happenings, something that could only have been imagined in the recesses of his roleplaying mind.

He was inside the game of YGGDRASIL.

He had glanced around immediately, searching for the two members that had come along with him. Java had been at his immediate left of the throne, while Az'gathan had found a pillar to lean on at his right side. He looked towards the demon first, finding him unaffected by the small change.

Something was different.

He could hear sobbing, but not the kind of sounds that he would normally hear in a game like this. There was an added sense of direction, heard mostly from his right ear to indicate that it was coming from that direction. His hood - had it always been visible on the sides of his vision? - blocked some of the noise, and so Momonga reached up to adjust the fabric, pushing it back slightly just so he could see better.

He could feel it betwixt his skeletal phalanges, the make of the cloth. Jet black and thin, but softer than what he imagined.

The second he did this action, it hit him hard: he could actually _feel _it. The hood.

"Java...?"

His own voice was strange and alien to him, entirely different and far lower than he had expected. He began to panic, grasping at his chest to feel over where his heart should be and yet wasn't. Just as he was about to start shouting, he felt all emotion fleeing from his body at once as a soothing touch freed him from worry. He became calm once more.

He could hear the conversation perfectly fine if he wanted to, but at the moment he simply was not paying attention to what the voices were saying. He breathed in and felt his ribcage moving, but no air came through his throat. At least, not the feeling that he was expecting. There was simply nothing to hold in that air, and his lungs were nonexistent.

There was a book bound in leather that was pushed into his hands, and Momonga looked up to see Java pointing directly at him, then at one of the NPCs nearby. Her name had been Albedo. He slowly looked down as he opened the book to the first page and read, feeling completely out of it. He wanted to say something more, to question her if she had known this all beforehand. Why wasn't she responding like he did? What could possibly be in this book that would explain what was going on?

He felt sick, and then he didn't. The discomfort lessened and he could breathe again. He opened the leather journal.

_Once upon a time, I used to live under Yggdrasil's branches._ Already the book had been filled with barely-readable scratches, and Momonga was amused by it despite himself. He had always thought she would be this disorganized in writing, too. _Her leaves were golden and never withered, and the flowers that it bloomed, how many forms and colors did they have? Pinks and blues, yellows and oranges, and they glimmered like the stars, rainbows plucked from the skies and into the shapes of lotus flowers. __The figgs were untouchable, too, and they sparkled like crystals under the light of the sun._

_At the same time, there was a being that wished to be human. The imperfect creatures that shared the same universe she lived in, they were all something that she could not touch or feel or understand. But they had moments where even she could notice their attributes - the wars they settled, the lives they saved, the people they cared most for. Of course, not all of them were the givers she praised them to be. Some were cruel and selfish, the epitome of whatever flaws they decided to make theirs._

_This ideology of black and white was thankfully not something I had to struggle with. Patience is a waiting game, you must realize, and everything that thinks is prone to making mistakes. That is what humans were known for. However stupid I may present myself to be, that was the one thing I could assure you was true about these stumbling pieces of earth and clay._

_For Yggdrasil, though, I was most definitely that fool._

_This story is real. Now, your story is that of a player. Momonga, one thing I must tell you is that we are no longer that of your old world. I was never even from that old world. I will not lie and make excuses about how you will probably figure out eventually how to return to Earth, so I will give it to you upfront. We are on Yggdrasil's terms now, in Helheim and at the Great Tomb of Nazarick. _

(He would cross that part out later, knowing that they had been transported to a different part of the realm the nine worlds shared.)

_You surely know what you're up against. The implications of living NPCs was something I was introduced to very early on, with Asura and Az'gathan. But you have not come across that yet. Understand that you are now coming against real people - demons, elves. A statue. _

_That's all. I'd tell you to go have fun, but I'd assume you're a little bit stressed right now with the 'end of the world' thing. I'll leave you to it._

_-Java_

Despite going through that terrible attempt of consolation and possibly hopeless second opinion, Momonga felt more relieved as he closed the book over the one page. The slight change had not been a jarring experience, just a reopening of senses he already knew he had. He had just not related it to the game world.

Speaking of which...

He flexed his hands, bones held together by joints and cartilage. It arched up a bit before curving downward like claws, far longer than his original hands. He had stared at those hands ingame for so long, but to actually connect them to his own body...

His face was prodded none-too-gently by Java, whose flesh-covered finger pressed against the solid angles of his cheekbone, making sure not to go near the socket. Momonga wasn't sure whether he'd even feel it, but he thanked her silently for the gesture anyway.

She grinned down at him in stride without any sort of discomfort or unease, and that kind gesture is what dissipated the last of his worries.

He listened to them speak for a while longer, heard the voices of Albedo and Ithersta (real, he reminded himself, they are now living and real) before making the [Gate].

They had the floor guardians to meet, after all.

Java, who had waited for Momonga to return from his silence, had interpreted his lack of outbursts to mean that he had taken everything in and was merely thinking now, not panicking and screaming. Which would have been the worse of the two. She was quite thankful for his thoughtfulness.

Aura and Mare seemed to be elsewhere as their group fanned out in wait for the others. Java had been quite attentive to Bukubukuchagama's twin elves as the floor had grown and even gained a village somewhere within its large forests and jungle, the tops of the trees visible in the distance as they stood in the Amphitheater. And through the [Gate] swirling in the distance, Java could barely make out the shape of one of the working monster NPCs in the distance, tail ramrod straight as it stopped in place and bowed before the Supreme Beings.

The figure in the distance - high above at its tall vantage point jutting out over the sand-covered floor, Java noted, fell and began running at breakneck speed in their direction. Her heartbeat quickened in anticipation, knowing exactly who it was and wondering just how she should interact with them.

However, Java had not been expecting the tearful expression on the dark elf's face, nor the bone-crushing hug Aura gave as she crashed headfirst into her and sent them both near careening into the sand.

"Aura!" Albedo's scandalized gasp was quickly hushed as the elf buried her face into the fabric of Java's clothes, holding on tight.

"I'm so happy." Aura murmured, almost entirely silent which was unusual for the happy-go-lucky twin as the tears continued trailing slowly down her right cheek. Java could only see her head of hair since the kid had hidden her expression in Java's clothing. "Thank you for staying, Java-sama."

She looked back and spared a glance with the Supreme Beings behind her, grimacing slightly.

"I'd forgotten about the 'world ending' thing for a second, not gonna lie there," she admitted openly to them. "Anyway, I'm glad to see you alive as well, Aura."

Aura flushed bright red.

"H-hey, Mare!" Apparently having forgotten her brother and also slightly embarrassed from the fond regard of Java's gaze, Aura pulled away slightly and called for him, back in the direction in which she had come from. Java could just barely spot another person peek out from the high seat, checking over them in nervous assessment.

"I'm coming!"

She could see the red lights in Momonga's eye sockets brighten in recognition as he glanced over the two standing together as a pair. The elf twins, Bukubukuchagama's pride and joy, wore the highest dragonscale armor that they had been able to craft during the time and with matching outer vests.

"Aura, Mare. It is good to see you two."

Momonga added his own greetings leisurely since Java had already set an example for him. Az'gathan added his own acknowledgement, and Ithersta blinked as it observed the two new characters.

"Greetings, Momonga-sama," Mare spoke, stumbling over his words a little. They bowed their heads in unison.

The next to arrive was the vampire, Shalltear. They saw the whirling purple gateway of another [Portal] being opened, and stepping through it the first thing Java saw was a wide dark umbrella, then the hint of a bonnet underneath. The clothing she wore was frilly with decorations to indicate that it was not meant for slaughter, but the sharp gaze of the NPC made her understand that she was highly capable of doing so.

As Shalltear noticed the gaze of the Supreme Beings, she stiffened.

"I apologize for taking so long," she demurred. Despite hearing from Peroroncino that she had been meant to exemplify all of the birdman's locked up fetishes, Java did not get any of that flirtatious leering from the former NPC herself. Shalltear looked up for a moment, and Java quickly realized that there was grief in those eyes.

_Ah._

It seemed as if the maids had notified everyone of the words in the Throne Room. She should've guessed earlier.

"It's fine-" Momonga started, but it was as if a bomb had gone off from his words because suddenly, the rumbling of the ground made him cut short.

Cocytus emerged next as he moved mechanically, head down as he headed straight towards them as he visibly breathed cold air. Frost traveled slowly behind him as he carried himself with a defeated air, although the reason why Java could not be certain. Warrior Takemikazuchi's creation had a stronger influence on Momonga, who held a high level of respect for him because of the many times they had fought together in a party and the enthusiasm in which they played. The Supreme Lord reacted slightly to his presence, adding a tighter grip on the staff that he was holding.

"I have arrived, Momonga-sama," Cocytus spoke, but he sounded as if he had to force out those words. His head lowered even further. "I am ashamed of being unable to protect you in your time of need. Please forgive my transgressions."

"It is alright, Cocytus," the Elder Lich replied, raising a placating hand. "You could not have known beforehand. Rather, it is my fault for not telling you what I had already known."

"You making a mistake is an impossible task."

Before Momonga could continue, the last two missing persons entered the Amphitheater. Demiurge, who was closely followed by Asura, walked up to greet them. This time, Java moved to accommodate them into the small circle.

She wondered briefly what the others thought of Asura. He was not an NPC that she had created, but Momonga had believed previously that he was. He had stayed on the eighth floor on his own volition and refused to converse with the rest of the guild members, so that belief had festered. His compliance with the unspoken rules these people seemed to have - the stepping in place, the careful positioning that faced the Supreme Beings, the falling back in place of higher members of this group order - made her question when and where Asura had learned of internal affairs when he had never conversed with them.

Perhaps he had shared information with Demiurge on the way down from their respective floors.

"Glad to see you on the other side," she laughed, reaching out and patting Asura on the back. She had to reach up a bit higher to reach the six-armed statue on a suitable location, after which he then nodded and took his place alongside Ithersta.

"I apologize for taking so long. Since Asura is still not very accustomed to the dungeon layout, I had taken him to the sixth floor in haste."

"Thank you for your kind gesture."

Java observed the demon critically, noting the similarities between him and Ulbert. Demiurge had a cordial introduction that matched his creator in professionalism, and the fact that he had noticed Asura's need for assistance made perfect sense. His head was tilted forward a bit, sharp frown that struggled to reshape itself into something more suitable, but he obviously knew why he had been summoned and was upset about the situation. They all were.

The crisis was averted, but today they all could have lost their purpose - and their lives.

Each of the creators of these Floor Guardians had given her information on these characters, personality or ability-wise. Java faced each of them now, feeling a bit lost in thought. Already they had shattered her expectations of them and seemed to carry personalities of their own, although she could see a few similarities - Albedo had Tabula's stickler-for-rules attitude along with an intimidating air of authority, Aura shared Bukubukuchagama's side for emotion, Cocytus carried Warrior Takemikazuchi's responsible mein and a self-punishing attitude in the face of failure.

"Now, I'm sure you all understand why you are here." Momonga's voice cut through the silence, breaking the tension. "It has come to my attention that our information system is lacking and I will make sure to say it fully. The world should have ended today, and yet it did not. We are alive and we are in a different land that is not within the marshlands, according to Ithersta's observations."

There was no interruption, but there were a few glances from various other members of the group. The moving ball of light in question blinked in agreement.

"Now that we have ensured that there are no potential hostiles nearby, we still must figure out where we have been transported to." He glanced over the group of figures in a perusing manner, but Ithersta bobbed up to intercept him.

"If I may, I can check further and locate the closest village or town alone."

"Thank you, Ithersta. Please do so. If you find any sort of map or book containing geographical names and points, please cast a [Message] spell and let us know."

"Of course."

Ithersta, once again, winked out of existence. Java belatedly realized that the other non-Supreme Beings had moved in formation, Asura included, to face them. She frowned at the statue, but Asura did not respond.

"I will contact Albedo who will inform the rest of you once we hear news of where we are. In the meantime, Nazarick must be put at maximum security. All Floor Guardians prioritize their own floors. Mare, a question for you."

The dark elf jerked up. "M-me?"

"Is there a spell that will help camouflage us from possible intruders? We are surrounded by plains in open sight, which will be a clear target for outsiders."

Java eyed the Overlord with a slight hint of respect. Throughout the entire situation Momonga had taken this new world in stride, even going through his thoughts logically for the rest of them to hear out. There were small notes of familiarity when he looked at each NPC, but Java had done the same.

"We can create other hills around the area, and maybe disguise the tomb by putting dirt around it as well-"

"You want to desecrate the walls of Nazarick by smearing dirt?" Albedo's cutting reprimand stopped Mare from finishing his thought, and he looked away in embarrassment.

"Do not interrupt, Albedo. It is a good thought. I believe it will work."

"My apologies, Momonga-sama."

Momonga gestured for them to rise. "With that, our meeting is adjourned. Mare, you will create false hills and change the outer appearance of Nazarick to fool any enemies. I trust you will be able to do this."

"Of c-course!"

"Good. You all are now dismissed."

"One second!"

Java interrupted them now, and their attention turned from the guild master to her with adoration. They were planning on listening to her every word.

Feeling only mildly creeped out, she barreled straight through and asked what was on her mind without another moment of hesitation: "What do you think the purpose of the Supreme Beings is?"

At once, any movements they had been making froze. Dust whirled in the distance although Java had been sure that the sixth floor did not contain weather changes, but other than the sounds of rustling and birds the room was silent.

Albedo spoke. "We cannot fathom the depths of your reasoning. To think of what is inside the mind of a Supreme Being is like becoming god."

"I have the feeling that our viewpoints are very different. I understand that as players the world revolved around every action and choice they made, but to go so far as to consider them as gods..."

"The feats that the Supreme Beings have been able to accomplish are legendary both within and outside these walls. You have defeated many powerful enemies and brought back many impossible conquests, emerging victorious despite the difficulties. We have heard of every battle and are astounded."

"You believe that we are adept."

"Wholeheartedly."

Java's gaze came down and her eyes narrowed. Despite herself, she came off as displeased and malevolent. "I am human. A race that has forced heteromorphic creatures to suffer, and the reason this guild has been created."

A longer silence, this time. She could visibly see Aura lean back as if petrified of the conversation that was sure to come, and Mare seemed close to tears as his shoulders hunched forward. They should all have some form of animosity against humanity since they had been so cruel to the nonhuman creators they adored. Furthermore, many of the creatures were on the low end of the karma scale, meaning that there would be some form of backlash. She wanted to know this first and foremost: would they hold that same resentment against her as a double-bladed weapon?

This convoluted bartering seemed to have an especially large impact on the more demonic floor guardians in the circle, who seemed to understand what she was grasping at and were unable to respond properly. The existence of demons was not reliant on humans, but they were a prime target for deals and soul bargaining. They were a plaything at best. Java had specifically mentioned that her race was human despite everything, and this must have created some sort of struggle in their minds.

Did the title of Supreme Being overpower their prejudice? Did they wish to kill her?

It was important that she knew the answer as quickly as possible. Although she knew that humans were fools, making feats of genocide that rivaled the evilest of creatures, there were also benefactors who reigned long and prosperous, creating bountiful eras where peace warmed the hearts of men and caused greater times of invention. She knew that race was not the problem. Likewise, there were demons so kind they could be mistaken for an angel and angels with intentions so terrible they could be thought of as a demon, for she had seen each before. It had happened many times, in fact.

She wondered now if these creations could break through the lenses in the same way that their former Supreme Beings had held, because that would hold value in many of the expectations she had of them as friends.

(The respect thing would probably have to go, too, if possible. Java knew it's been pretty ingrained into them at this point.)

"As a Supreme Being and a member of Ainz Ooal Gown, you have already been accepted as one of us."

Momonga said this directly to her. His unrelenting conviction is what made her turn to him, brows raising in surprise. Out of all the Supreme Beings, she knew that Momonga had been the most paranoid - he had been PKed by other players countless times, even at the highest level. He'd been ambushed quite a few times and barely escaped with his life. She knew he had a good heart and he did the utmost to help his guild, but when he trusted someone he trusted them completely. That was why he took to caution before making an ally.

"Do you hate humans, then?"

"...No."

She had gotten a concrete response. Momonga had already known the answer she was anticipating, and his answer had not been a lie. His resentment had faded long ago, festering only when his teammates suffered or when his guild faced discrimination. Java's protection had changed that. She had helped them, even offered her weapons, and she had given some valuable contributions and two other members of the guild that may not have been there otherwise.

He had once been human. She knew that. He did as well. But now he had transformed into something entirely different, and it would change his outlook on life. He had not reacted with any visible emotion since their arrival, which may be contributed to his Overlord attributes.

"I know that whatever you harbor towards me may be disgust, or hatred, or perhaps simply indifference," Java said, and despite the starting of loud protests from the guardians she continued. "and I can live with that. Momonga has gone through much of that already, and I merely feel like on whatever path we may be heading towards we will have to choose what our purpose will be. Our mindset will change the way we reach this goal."

Albedo looked horrified. Aura looked like she was on the verge of breaking down. Mare was starstruck. And Demiurge...

Demiurge looked _livid._

Java blinked and stepped back a little, feeling animosity slap her across the face a bit too hard for comfort. She was expecting it, and she knew little about the inner workings of the floor guardians' thoughts, but she knew dislike when she saw it. That was exactly the face she was dreading.

_Of course, _the realization dawned on her, but it was too little, too late. Ulbert had always kept that hatred for humans and was sadistic beyond measure in his fantasies of torture and dismemberment. He had raged long about the people he had come across, those who left black imprint after imprint on his feebly fragile affairs in both personal and business matters. That pessimistic attitude must have been something that had transferred over to his creation.

Perhaps that extra bloodlust was the final straw on the camel's back.

"...Hm. Well, I'm starting to get a headache, so I'll be heading out." Java waved goodbye in Momonga's general direction and felt her forehead throb, feeling a bit perturbed at the timing of her departure. She had wanted to listen to Ithersta's findings and hopefully talk with them a little more, but she felt as if she were being hit by a train at full speed. (Had she always felt like this? She had not known how to feel tired that often.)

With her final words hanging like the axe above their necks and her staggering as she teleported out, both Momonga and the floor guardians turned to each other and came to two separate conclusions.

One, that the way they would treat Java while knowing she was human would likely change the way they treated humans as a whole.

And two, in Momonga's eyes specifically, it was now his time to return the kindness Java had given him as he realized he had taken it for granted.

The tables had turned. Java was the one outnumbered now.

Without further ado, the rest of the Supreme Beings left as well.

* * *

Momonga had appeared in front of her while eating cereal on the worn-out couch, the embroidery picked at and pulled until there was barely any space to add extra patches of fabric. Java had not cared at all for the interruption and promptly spilled the contents of her bowl all over the floor.

"God damn it," she grumbled as Momonga systematically crouched and cast the spell [Reverse Time], returning the bowl back into her hands. "Don't scare me, I thought I was having war flashbacks or something."

"So," Momonga began, lounging on one of the many pieces of furniture, "what did you mean by 'not from the old world?'"

Java blinked. Out of all the questions he could've asked, he started from the very beginning. Actually, that would make some sort of sense. She'd been feeling somewhat out of it when she found the closest room on the ninth floor and fell asleep on a sofa, only to wake up and realize that she was in the common room.

Not only that, but she had awoken to see the skeletal figure of Momonga leaning on one of the other couches, appearing to have been waiting for her to wake up. She wasn't quite sure whether that was flattering or creepy yet.

She finished the cereal and began washing the bowl and spoon in the built-in sink, soap sponge in hand and running water from the tap. She had to open the drying rack with her right elbow because her hands were currently preoccupied, and only after a brief struggle with the slipping silverware did she realize that the entire situation could be solved with yet another spell. Momonga helped her by pulling the rack forward until it reached its maximum length.

She rubbed her eyes, forgetting for a moment that there was soap on her hands. Java was trying to keep some semblance of normalcy while playing this game by using this room, the one that some of the guild members had imported into YGGDRASIL. The ninth floor was quite nice for non-players like her, she could admit, since she hadn't seen proper appliances in a long time. The lack of bathrooms on any of the other floors besides this one did persuade her a bit.

"It's exactly what it means. I'm not from your Earth." She dropped the bowl back into the sink and started pouring water over her eyes. "Although you probably want a better explanation for that."

"Yes."

Java finished cleaning and flopped over onto one of the sofas, where Az'gathan had been sitting while distracted as he stared at the television with a bit of awe. He had never seen any of the real-world appliances before, and he was trying not to get up and touch whatever was on the screen for the umpteenth time. The demon promptly picked her up and tossed her elsewhere onto one of the other couches, ignoring their conversation entirely. He seemed to be fixated.

"I am the beginning and the end," she said slowly, as if trying to convince him of something that he would not believe even if she swore on it. Momonga already did not understand, but knowing Java would not try to be purposely convoluted about a subject this important he kept silent and continued to listen. "I know that I pretend to be human and existent and that I will never experience those emotions as deeply as people do, but I am something else entirely."

"You said that thing about Yggdrasil, in your book," Momonga said. "Are you talking about the World Tree in this world?"

"No." Java made a face, as if she abhorred the very thought of having to interact with such a thing. "I'm speaking of the real one. The one from the myth. Except it wasn't a myth, and this one is just a fake."

Seeing as Momonga still did not comprehend what she was saying, she told him clearly and straight-on: "If people once believed in witches and wild things so wholeheartedly and believe in gods now, then why not accept it now? Just as we are in the game you once played and we are alive, I am real."

"And what are you?"

It was his final question. Java looked at him and smiled, but it was something different in her eyes that made him freeze. "I have been in your past, I am in your present, and I will always be there in your future. What am I?"

Momonga never got to answer. Java stood up, and with a small flourish she vanished out the front door.

* * *

Thank you for reading. It was a little more stressful writing this one out, since I had an idea of what to do but I didn't know exactly how to execute it. I'm relieved I finished it, though.


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you for the reviews. I assure you that when I get to those parts in the story your questions will subside. And to those who had guessed at the riddle, time is indeed the correct answer.

* * *

Chapter 7

Southwest to the Great Tomb of Nazarick lay the closest village in the premises, a small place of insignificant value. Demiurge had located this with the assistance of one of the new additions to their ranks, Ithersta, as a tribute to the map they were creating using the administrator's capabilities and the Grand Library of Ashurbanipal's mapmaking skills. Demiurge lowered his head as he thought, cognizant of the ram-horned and skeletal librarian as it pinpointed new locations as translated by the noncorporeal wisp. It was far more efficient than any of his demons, especially as it could both teleport and blend in at night with the natural light of the fireflies that inhabited the areas nearby.

He had many things that he wished to ask, but [Messaging] the Will-O'-Wisp now could compromise the mission. It was best for Ithersta to return to the tomb's floors before mentioning anything related to what it saw outside. He, himself, did not particularly feel worried judging by what it had already reported, but Nazarick had been notified beforehand and was placed on maximum security.

In the end, Demiurge remembered his creator's words just as clearly as his physical appearance.

Of course, he was confident that all of the floor guardians in Nazarick would cherish their maker's parting words. It was impossible to forget the face and voice of the Supreme Being that made them, however hard they could try. And why would they? He could not be more exhilarated at the thought of this knowledge, the importance of his purpose and the defense against lowly fools who dared enter the seventh floor.

Ulbert Alain Odle had a brilliant, untarnished mind, remaining dark with hatred for those who had dared defile his path and his vision for the future. He gave to Demiurge an insatiable urge to kill mankind in order to fulfill his own goals, prioritizing the death of any human individual or party in a raid or other sort of mock battle. Demiurge could understand the Supreme Being's disdain for such weak filth, cowardly fools with too much pride and those who managed to worm their way into his influence in order to further stain the world with their greed.

There were ants tarnishing the sublime halls of their sanctuary, so what else could he do other than to watch them burn?

Paladins wearing silver armor wielding blades twice their size found their way to the tomb and died. Young adventurers who mistook the guild for a dungeon carrying heavy maps and wands and daggers and a paraphernalia of collectible items trekked their way in and died. Mages who were too cocky for their own good pretending to become allies only to infiltrate their walls and plant harmful devices met a cheerless death and died.

In the end, they all died. Such were the fates of the worthless.

And yet Ulbert still raged.

He could not respond but he could listen to what ailed his creator and his meaning for existence. That was exactly what Demiurge did, waiting carefully as Ulbert ranted to nothing and at no one, angry at the people - the humans - that desecrated his weapons, his place, the morale of his guild members as they faced trial after trial of hopefuls, fruitlessly aiming to reach further than the first few levels of the tomb and take the Guild Weapon for their own purposes.

And then it became more than that - there were snippets of the other lives he lived in, one where he was thoroughly rejected in something Ulbert called "the mindless work ethic." It had been so terrible to the Supreme Being that there were times where he became disillusioned with what he mentioned was the 'real world', remaining bitter and pessimistic over his future and ranking impossible tasks to see which one he could topple first. His strange disliking of Touch Me seemed to stem primarily from the way the world saw the two of them in this other place that the Supreme Beings traveled to. "No matter how hardworking I may become, there will never be a time where I will receive the same golden treatment that has befallen that man."

The fact that anyone could view someone as higher-ranking and less "worthless" than his own creator caused anger to Demiurge in multiple ways, which was reflected in the way he interacted with Sebas Tian from then on.

Then there was an introduction of a large amount of members into the guild. The original amount when the guild had started had tripled in size, some of the newer faces Demiurge remembered clearer than others. From them were more guardians for Nazarick - several of the Pleiades, Victim, and the Homunculus Maids. Ulbert did not outwardly express himself in an open manner, but he interacted quite amicably with his fellow guild members. Demiurge followed suit, feeling some form of cordial relationship with the other creations of the Great Tomb.

But there were three members that Ulbert seemed to care about the most, two of which Demiurge saw more than the other.

The first was Momonga, the guild master and Ulbert's closest friend who visited sometimes but for long, fruitful hours. The second was the Supreme Being that visited the 7th floor often, an extremely powerful demon named Az'gathan. The last person, Demiurge had only met once.

It was interesting to hear the conversations those two had, however unsolicited his presence may have been. Momonga did drop in at strange times, when Ulbert was about to go to sleep using the teleporting method he called "logging off."

_"I've been thinking about it recently, but if damage is all you want, wouldn't that be more easily done by the frontliners? Magic casters ought to know utility spells."_

Ulbert often talked with Momonga, mostly for preparing tactics and spell management. Demiurge often listened to these valuable pieces of information, tucking them away for future use. The knowledge of the Supreme Beings was an extremely powerful resource that he could dissect at once.

_"I can leave that to you, Ulbert. I'm set on maintaining my role, and bogging up my skillset with healing and support spells won't get me there."_

_"Alright, that's fair enough. Fighting one-on-one is still not recommended, though. They fight dirty."_

_"I'll take that into account."_

And to Momonga, Ulbert revealed his darkest secrets. Demiurge overheard tidbits and pieces that he had not known before and had not understood, but he could clearly see that it affected his creator immensely. _"My parents died pretty horribly. Working in such a dangerous place - they couldn't even find their bones, you know. And the compensation they paid to their employees was miserable. That's why they didn't stop the production lines. After all, stopping them would incur huge losses. They used us. They use us up and throw us away."_

With the strange concept of familial relations aside, Demiurge had kept that innermost secret close to heart and from he heard of Momonga's reply the Elder Lich would keep that promise as well. And so Ulbert stayed quiet. Demiurge stayed quiet. And neither of them could break that straining tension beginning to tug at their normal values.

See, the second arrival that had affected Demiurge's opinion on humanity had been Az'gathan. He mentioned many things that were surprisingly well-rounded, mentioning details that Demiurge would have overlooked normally and even small descriptions added about the mentality of heteromorphic characters, likened to the scrupulous and singleminded thoughts of the humans Ulbert so despised.

Understandably, Demiurge had faced many foes during his time protecting the walls of Nazarick against enemies. It was only once that he had been knocked down, and his death - it had been painful. Of course, the physical feeling had been short in his timespan, shot high with adrenaline and disintegrating into dust when he was unquestionably murdered by an instant spell of holy light. That was not what injured him so. It was the grinning of their repugnant, disgusting, _happy_ expressions when they turned to move on to the next floor: he had lost, and they were reaping the benefits thinking they had won. Only to be subsequently destroyed by Victim's self-sacrifice and destroying over 1,500 enemies in total.

This impression was the only influence needed for Demiurge to formulate an opinion on humans in general. They were singleminded, prideful, and vain creatures who would not hesitate to destroy each other in order to manage a futile goal. The very idea of trying to reach the tenth floor was absurd. They used their strength in numbers to make up for their numerous weaknesses, and even then they failed to defeat Ainz Ooal Gown.

And as the tectonic plates rumbled ominously from the constant volcano eruption in the distance, never ceasing with its black molten lava breaking off into chunks of overheated rock, Demiurge considered the last person with a surprising amount of calmness.

Java the human, the Supreme Being that Ulbert had proclaimed to be a friend, and to Momonga an ally.

He had at first been blinded by the title she had so meticulously dismantled in front of them, questioning Albedo if they could respect her without thinking of the guild's protection. Momonga's presence had added incentive to Demiurge's loyalty. Java had been regaled, much like Ulbert and Touch Me and Momonga had in their contributions to the place they had created together.

Even while humoring the Supreme Being and breaking down Java's skills with an analytical eye, if he were to dare try and engage with her alone (the very thought sent his mind reeling) she would be far superior in combat. According to what he had accumulated from other sources throughout the levels of the tomb, Java was an extraordinary mage equal to both Momonga and Ulbert.

He was not so foolish as to let the term 'human' blind him. There was a time when the humans had believed in one particular religious diety, the son of a godlike figure who took the form of a human amongst them and yet was still recognized as superior in both skill and form. Java was that figure. He could not be so blind as to assimilate her into the masses, that would be an utterly preposterous feat.

Ulbert saw this as well. Demiurge knew that he held the appraised human in high regard, far more than any other he'd met before. She had delivered a World Item directly into Ulbert's hands, seeing fit to give him suggestions about his own build and skill leveling along with providing attention to the floor that Ulbert continued to invest in wholeheartedly. If that was not the attitude of a genuine companion, then Demiurge did not know anything at all.

Lastly, Demiurge knew that Ulbert trusted them. He would never be one to question the inadequacy of his creator, and so Demiurge trusted Java with his entire person as well.

So with that, he knew that he would have to take the words she had given into understanding. Java had surreptitiously involved the creations in a struggle to respect the human side of her while also balancing their dislike for humans, albeit in various degrees and sizes. Demiurge understood the implications: did they trust her to make decisions, or would they feel so compelled that they would destroy whatever respect they had for her?

If the subordinate did not have an iota of respect for their superior, then the connection was lost and the system was for naught. Servants were not made to question orders, they were created to follow them without fail.

Java knew of his hatred for humans since Demiurge's very creator had put that aspect into him and told her explicitly about it. She knew of his loathing, his penchant for seeing both men, women, and children alike suffer. It was impossible to hide that from the guild members who could see right through his every move and action.

His reasoning was methodical. He did not let this penchant hinder his tasks when setting out, but if he did have the chance to use humans to his own advantage then he would do it. They were perfect test subjects: too weak to struggle, but too hateful and crude to formulate any sort of plan and break out. He could easily turn them on each other in an instant. Their desolation was wonderous music for his ears.

_"Humans are fragile and inferior creatures. If I crush them like insects, there would be a wonderful sight to behold."_

But to say that to a Supreme Being? Demiurge would rather crumble into dust.

This struggle also deepened considering Momonga's extreme apathy for any intruders within the tomb. Any and all humans were to be exterminated and their bodies thrown back outside without any of their weapons or valuable materials, giving them the incentive to try and return only to fail over and over again. Java did not seem to carry any complaints. This, Demiurge concluded, meant that she had a criteria and would not offer the olive branch to any unworthy person.

The goals of the Supreme Being congregated on one universal tangent: to protect their guild and each other from any who wished harm upon them. Java had the same goal, but the ways in which she achieved them were rather unclear.

She had lectured the humans who attempted to PK several members on the prophets of the Norse gods, confounding them as the Supreme Beings acted upon her distraction and gathered enough time to collect themselves and counter. This had apparently happened several times on accounts of Ulbert himself, along with the corresponding threats to 'log off and take a break, eating is good for your health and you should go outside and take at least five minutes of the sun before you wither away like a broken shell of a husk you have become as the world ages around you."

(At least half of that had been fibbed by Peroroncino, the person who had mentioned the incident to Ulbert, but nobody questioned it because he almost always made those sorts of improvisations.)

And Ulbert had seen something within her that kept him for hours at a time, wandering about their plane, seemingly cogitating over the close conversations they had had about the lessons humans gave on morality. Demiurge found little to no value in the topic himself, but Ulbert seemed to be conflicted as he continued the train of thought into the conversations with Az'gathan.

_"I see that she has some faith in humans,"_ the demon said, shrugging it off like oil on water. "_It is of no real consequence other than that a respect for opinion is maintained."_

_"Yes," _Ulbert agreed. However, the hand on his left cloak twitched imperceptibly, clawed fingertips drawing forward and easing up at once. Demiurge knew that it meant his creator was conflicted. "_For all the opinions she shares based on her own life, she rarely speaks about the background she came from."_

_"Her home had been-" _Az'gathan cut off, seemingly rethinking his statement. Demiurge strained his ears to catch what the demon had said. "_Has she told you anything at all about it?"_

_"Nothing at all."_

Ulbert sounded frustrated. He continued with a slightly shifted tone: "_I told her many things, and yet she refuses to open up to me."_

_"I think she may be taking into consideration your opinion, and it may tarnish whatever she would originally have been planning to say to you."_

Ulbert was silent. His hat tilted forward in a considering motion, and his face was cold and blank. It was often in that expression, and it did not frighten Demiurge as much as it gave him a newfound surge of respect. Ulbert had many masks to hide his colors, and he used them well. "_Well, that was always one thing that I held my respect for. She did not force her viewpoints on me and she only listened. Momonga was the same. I suppose it should be my turn to return the favor."_

_"If not for that, then I most likely would not have found companionship here in Nazarick. I am... honored."_

_"I as well."_

At the bottom line, Demiurge wished to ease the suffering of the Supreme Being. If she ordered for him to never kill, or torture, or maim a human again, he would gladly do so. He could not be any happier if that were the case.

And with that, there would be only one option left remaining. Demiurge could not leave these tensions as they were now. Java did not trust his capability to act out her will in stride, however many humans he would have to ignore in the process, which is why she did not and would likely never order something as large-scale as that. He would have to prove his loyalty, and this alone made him a far more unworthy candidate than any of the other floor guardians.

Albedo had come to the same conclusion, for she turned to look back at Demiurge once the Supreme Beings left with a shell-shocked appearance. Not one single thread of fabric had moved since she had crouched and remained crouching, but a lock of hair had fallen out of place. Albedo could not even muster up enough face to correct it.

None of the others seemed to have noticed their predicament. Aura and Mare were dark elves, kept at a karma of just about zero, and Sebas' was far higher than the rest of theirs. While there were few heteromorphic creatures in their guild that maintained a high karma rating, Demiurge knew that with two opposing methods there may be a slight friction between them.

This was where their servitude would matter most.

Demiurge remembered hearing that long ago when obtaining the long-held World Item that Java had given him, Ulbert had tinkered with the knowledge that he could create an infinite army of demons that would acquiesce to his wishes and take over the world. That was a spectacular gift that seemed to be specifically for the demon who wished for that event to happen, but Demiurge inwardly questioned the motives of the human that had given it to him. It sounded like a false pretense. Java's ideals should have wished for the exact opposite.

Did she genuinely wish for Ulbert's plans to come to fruition, simply because she was his friend? This confounded him far more than any other course of action Java could have taken, confused by the very implication of doing an act of good will for a cause that she had disapproval against. Unless she did not care for humans at all and only specifically chosen ones, like Ulbert and Momonga did for her. They were, as he called it, 'making an exception.'

In the end, her lifespan should be short as was deduced by her race and eager temperament. That was if Demiurge believed what she had been trying to tell them, and in this case he did not. Albedo had mentioned that Java was 'eons older than them', which solidified his suspicions to a sharp point.

To transcend godhood itself was to become higher than their race, and therefore, Java was inhuman.

This was an obvious conclusion he had come to. He turned to Albedo with a disarming smile, quelling her worries (and his own) almost instantly. The Supreme Being was above humankind. That was undoubtedly without question, even if she had been attempting to trick them all along. But this had clearly been a test, to goad them into breaking their limits and counter any hypothetical thoughts of rebellion.

He had looked back at the moment when he had shown his true thoughts in front of the group congregated at the sixth floor, and he had seen Java's response to his expression. Dull, defeated resignment. It was as if she truly believed that he would hate her with every fiber of his being because she was human.

She had misinterpreted his reaction when his first response was rage. Demiurge knew that Ulbert's faith in her was absolute, and his first thoughtless instinct was to flare up in undisguised, horrible anger. How could she even question his creator's unfathomable loyalty to his guild members? And in turn, Demiurge's purpose? To have Ulbert and Momonga's faith, Demiurge had viewed her as equal to each of the Supreme Beings, but by showing her own self-deprecation he had only felt anger towards himself for not being able to cause peace within her mind, but discord.

It had been at the moment when she needed their unwavering promise the most, and it was a test he had absolutely failed. He had made a mistake and she had believed the worst.

It was as if he had seen clockwork rewind. She had blanked her expression, turned right around, and left without further instruction or added-on tact to Momonga's orders. Aura looked as if she wanted to get up and run right after the Supreme Being, but doing so in front of the guild master would be quite rude and unheard of. The dark elf was young, but she knew the requirements of serving the Tomb of Nazarick. Their creators all followed Momonga's orders as guild members and thus so should they.

Albedo had not done so, but Demiurge felt as if he had suffered the greatest misdemeanor. He bowed his head low as his tail moved erratically, feeling quite agitated over the error in his ways. He prided himself on being efficient, thorough in his planning for any task that was given to him, yet he had caused disrespect to a Supreme Being which was the highest offense a floor guardian could have made. Whatever punishment Java thought fit he would gladly accept even unto death. He could not live with such a marking on his existence.

There was nothing more worthless than a disobeying weapon, after all.

And yet days passed. Demiurge continued his duties, and there was no call from the maids or the Supreme Beings requiring his presence. He respectfully did not intrude on their passiveness, and his heart weighed even heavier with anticipation.

"_As long as we do not know anything about the beings which live in this world, I can only say that your idea is foolish. For all we know, we might be miniscule weaklings in this world. However... conquering this world might be quite interesting."_

The proclamation Momonga had murmured into the night sky had refocused Demiurge, of course, but it did little to ease the ill feeling.

And then, within the next early morning, Albedo called him using a [Message] spell.

"Az'gathan-sama has messaged me about an issue with the information system. He says that it is lacking in effectiveness, and the Area Guardians cannot easily come in and out of their stations in order to move to different floors, and the teleportation pads have locked them in. Kyouhukou is sending for a hand in feeding his family and that he requires some form of sustenance. Meat is preferred. If a possible enemy is spotted, have your troops retreat immediately."

"Have any of the Pleiades maids been deployed?"

"Yes. They have all been assigned to their own tasks, which is why I have chosen to task you instead."

"Understood."

Hearing the shiver of disgust in Albedo's voice as she mentioned the insect king, he knew that this was a task that not many of the floor guardians had wanted to do. Demiurge knew that at least half of the Great Tomb of Nazarick despised the creature because of his family of cockroaches, but he was well acquainted with Cocytus and had talked to Entoma several times already. Additionally, he found Kyouhukou's docile nature towards humans rather interesting. He wondered if acting kind and bequeathing the tiniest chance of hope just before snatching it away would garner more pain and torture.

Demiurge quickly dispatched one of his servants, a lesser demon under the title Evil Lord Wrath, to make work of some of the nearby animals residing in the forests. The kills were fast and efficient as the demons left no trace of any tracks or bloodstains, only returning to the second floor a short while later. Demiurge decided to accompany them so that he could report his success to Az'gathan-sama directly.

However, after several [Message] spells and picking up no response, Demiurge was a bit concerned when responded when he arrived at the teleportation circle, entering the pit and searching for any sign of the demonic Supreme Being.

He was more than shocked when he found another person instead.

"Oh, hello," Java replied placidly, directing the Cockroach King over to where his legion of insects were scattered. The bugs eagerly climbed about, noticing their next meal with eager intention. Kyouhukou forced them back down with a sharp series of clicking and mandibles. "Thank you for responding to my request. Please move them over here."

Demiurge stiffened as she walked past him, hands reaching out to drag one of the carcasses off the demon carrying them. He intercepted her, moving into place as he shook his head in response. "No, Java-sama, do not sully your hands for this menial task. Let us do this in your stead."

"Uh... sure."

The demon's tail waved once as he ordered Wrath to drop the bodies into the middle of the room. Almost immediately, the cockroaches came upon the recent kill, destroying fur and bone and flesh alike until there was almost nothing left but the sharp stench of iron from the blood and small stains of where it had splashed against the floor. Java did not blink.

The vague question, 'W_here is Az'gathan?' _was something that he wished to say aloud, but he thought back to Albedo's words and understood. She had not said that Az'gathan had personally requested the notice, only that he had messaged Albedo to inform her about it. Java must not have told them.

The cockroach - Kyouhukou - turned to them and bowed deeply. Based on how much his antennae were quivering, the insect seemed overwhelmed with gratitude. "Thank you, O Supreme One! I will strive to repay your generosity a thousand fold."

"No problem. I'll figure something out about the teleportation pad as soon as possible. I wonder if the administration system can be fixed to multiple channels..."

Demiurge was efficient in rules, in laws, in unguided assessments and judgments of strength. However, it was extremely rare that he faced such consequences. Therefore he decided to apologize immediately and as soon as possible, bowing down on one knee as he closed off his expression, waiting for the enactment of retribution for offending Java - and in turn, Ainz Ooal Gown itself.

"I had made a grave error during our meeting. Java-sama, please forgive me for my transgressions."

The girl paused, frowning vaguely as she visibly struggled to remember what had happened in the meeting. "Oh. I understand. It's not a problem."

Demiurge's head craned upward minutely - did Java still believe that he had not understood the hidden test? He quickly informed her otherwise: "I have no intention of disrespecting your opinion, Java-sama. I know that you are fond of humans."

His last sentence fully separated Java from humanity, which she surely would pick up on. And yet her head turned again, acknowledging the statement with a small inclination but refusing to further add any detail on it.

Seeming to entirely disregard the elephant in the room, Java pointed out the motions of her discussions with the other guild members.

"Momonga, he sees too far into the future sometimes. So much so that I have to remind him of how to pull back," Java said as she pulled one of Kyouhukou's bugs off of her arm. There was no disgust as she inspected its wriggling, joyous legs and flicked it back into the pile. "He can deal with all of the external, political affairs. In the meantime, I can manage some of the internal problems like Kyouhukou's food supply."

She gestured to the several piles of bones still scattered about the room that were also being devoured at a fast pace by the starved cockroaches. There was almost no sign of the animals remaining. "There are no proper entryways for Kyouhukou to call any of the floor guardians for assistance, which brought my attention to the lack of alarm networks in case of an emergency."

"If I may, how did you arrive at this problem?"

"I walked around."

Demiurge's eyes widened at her blunt response - the fact that she had picked up on the issues of the Area Guardians meant that Shalltear had been slacking in her rounds, as she was the designated guardian of the first three floors. He would have to mention this to her afterward. But to think that she headed through every area individually, knowing the layout of the map, was an extraordinarily thoughtful gesture.

Of course, it was also something that the floor guardians themselves should have known beforehand. Demiurge, once again, felt a sense of shame fill him at his very core.

"I had not thought of this issue before. I am not worthy to serve the likes of someone as observant as you, Java-sama."

The human's eyes closed shut. "Thank you. I truly do appreciate the efforts you have given thus far."

Demiurge eyed the Supreme Being, who had grasped lightly at her head again as if she had some sort of headache. He moved forward once again to aid her, but she put out a hand and blocked his assistance without directly looking back at him. _Rejection. _"No. It's fine, I can handle this."

"Do you require anything that can be of use to you?" Her discomfort had placed a fear in his heart, and he wondered if she had gained some sort of illness when they had been transported. Perhaps there was an airborne sickness here that she had not encountered previously, and the reoccurring migraines had set him off. Java frowned and turned entirely towards him at that moment, startling him as he stood in place.

After a close inspection she stepped back and spoke, brow still furrowed as if thinking about something. "Do you also have Aura of Despair, like Az'gathan?"

"I do not. However, I have the skill Command Mantra, which can affect those level 40 and under."

"It didn't have any effect before the transfer, why now..." she muttered, head a little clearer but still throbbing slightly. It was starting to get annoying, but Demiurge seemed to have an acute sense of wanting to commit seppuku at every encounter so she kept her mouth shut. "Alright. Are you willing to try it on me?"

"I would not dare to-"

"Do it."

Demiurge straightened. Java stared him down, then her mouth quirked upwards at the ends as she dusted off any stray particles of dust on her person. (He had the urge to burn Kyouhukou, but he knew that it was an irrational thought as Java herself did not seem to find harm in them.) "I am in great discomfort by the idea of using a command skill against you, Java-sama. Besides, you are surely above level 40."

"So there should be no problem in trying, correct?" Yet again, even with logical reasoning in mind, Demiurge hesitated.

She sighed once the silence had stretched too long, slumping forward a little in a defeated manner as she brushed the order aside. "Ah, never mind, it's fine. I can go ask Az'gathan instead."

The thought flashed once again in Demiurge's memories, reminding him yet again of the words he had told himself. Loyalty had been ingrained in him, but going against Java's orders was to ignore her position over his.

_There is no use for a disobedient weapon, after all._

**_"_****_Bow." _**

The command reverberated in the closed-off chamber, ricocheting off the moss-covered and blood-darkened stone turned black due to the lack of sun or any sort of lighting. It echoed again, and Java could hear the intent behind the skill he had tried to use on her. It molted off like old feathers, casting away and off entirely. Java waited several moments.

It felt as if there were spiders crawling on her back.

The confidence in his tone - the undertone of _do not disobey, there is no room to do so - _sounded quite similar to the voice Momonga had now, making Java wonder if the Elder Lich had some sort of skill that had a similar and constant effect. That would be a scary feat.

However, since there was no response and no urge to obey the command, she relaxedly shifted forward to ease the tension. "There is no need to worry. I am unhindered."

Despite himself, Kyouhukou had backed into a corner, cockroaches shivering. None of them could speak. They could not dare to.

She blinked. "Huh," she said, bemused.

The act of attempting to command a Supreme Being, by itself, finally became too much of an insult for Demiurge to comprehend and thus her exclamation was followed by a hollow stream of apologies. Java stopped him by raising one purposeful hand in a gesture to silence him. He stopped, although barely.

His tail clanked against stone.

"I am willing to become a test subject for myself," Java told him with a strict voice and some determination, "and whether you are willing to see me become anything other than perfect or precise, I have no cares or worries. Even Momonga has weaknesses. I am merely figuring out my own."

Demiurge, still, could not look up.

"He looks too far sometimes, does he not? He misses the trees for the forest. There will be times when small mistakes are made, whether it is by regarding foes as too weak or too strong. His hesitance is a blessing and he is thorough in researching any possible enemies, but there will be times when it is unnecessary."

Java put a hand on her head. "Well, maybe he just enjoys being convoluted. It doesn't matter. It is not bad for them to show me weakness."

Wisened by those words, Demiurge finally raised his gaze from the floor to meet Java's eyes. She did not seem angry at all. Rather, she was still smiling, as if this turn of events had made her happy instead of furious.

"There is so much I want to ask you about, and I was going to ask Ithersta those questions instead," she admitted with slight regret, "but my creation seems to be busy helping Momonga out. Besides, based on what I've already gathered from it, Ithersta does not know the world quite yet because I had transported its conscience from elsewhere."

"By this, do you mean you have done a form of reincarnation?"

"Basically."

The look Java gave him was cordial. Demiurge couldn't breathe. "Ulbert was a close friend. Because of this, despite our differences, I am willing to respect your ideals if you will do the same for mine."

Demiurge's bow was one of deep gratitude, his tail sweeping just barely off the ground. "Thank you, Java-sama."

Java excused herself to both Kyouhukou and Demiurge before leaving using a [Greater Teleportation] spell. Kyouhukou thanked him for his hard work and veered off back into the shadows, his loyal family following after him through crevices and corners in the walls. Demiurge looked back at the teleportation pad, turned around, and headed back through the winding maze that would lead him to the correct portal.

Meanwhile, Java began to focus elsewhere as she moved to the 9th floor and headed to the conference hall, where she knew Momonga would either be checking the map or updating any holes in their defense. Her interest was unrelated, but it would answer the pressing matters that both of them wished to know but did not get.

However thrown Demiurge may have been during their short time in the 2nd floor, he was not alone in his treatment. Java had asked brief, harmless but confusing to all of the floor guardians she conversed with. Her questions only grew from then on.

_What is the first thing you can remember in consciousness?_

_Can you remember anything before that?_

She had assumed that Ithersta would be able to answer these questions, as it had been created using the same system as the other creators. She had been incorrect: Ithersta remembered everything from its past existence, as a being of land. It had ruled over its villages and its kingdoms, overlooking the plants and from the sky to the sea to the earth and all that walked upon it.

Java had not intended for this to happen. Ithersta had been fine with the proceeding of events, but internally Java felt guilty - the spirit from its old world was most likely gone, then. The land would be unprovided for, and a land spirit would replace it.

The responses had ranged from vague and foggy answers to crystal clear ones, and most of them focused on their own creators due to them having the most exposure to the NPCs themselves, but Java knew one thing: the floor guardians did not remember the past lives of the dungeon before theirs. Their memories were collected from words that their creators had spoken; for example, although none of them had ever seen the sky outside, they could refer to the sixth floor as a reference because the Supreme Beings had mentioned the resemblance.

The floors and the texts in Nazarick were supplied to the NPCs so that they could make their own conclusions about the outside world on their own.

Momonga was working on system changes and she was glad for how he handled the majority of it with the assistance of Albedo. Normally Java would not be so interested in checking how the administrative tech worked other than the bare essentials, but after seeing how hard Momonga was working she strived to do better and help take some of the workload off of him. He could easily double-check her mistakes, of course, and vice versa. It was always better to keep a watchful eye.

It was uncanny how efficient Albedo herself was, and many of the choices she had made were unsurprisingly reminiscent of Tabula's tactics. There were times when the old data he used would kick in - while Tabula often thought before he acted but still wished to branch out his range of control, Albedo felt that the human villages were too insignificant to be of notice. In Java's opinion, Tabula would have used whatever resources he could get his hands on which included both maps and information.

Albedo also believed that Nazarick was far superior to anything in this new region. As Ithersta continued to travel out miles past the village, they realized that there were several larger towns and even the glimpse of a kingdom, with flags stamping its emblem across a majority of the area.

The cautious route was preferred, and Momonga had mentioned this to Albedo so that the tomb continued to maintain vigilance.

Az'gathan wished to join Ithersta in the scouting department. Java had no qualms with letting him roam as he wished, but Momonga had quite a few concerns. "Why risk getting caught by a strong enemy?" He asked, and there was a sense of loss there that struck Java. He was worried that Az'gathan would not return; or even more possibly, that he would enjoy traveling alone and leave for good.

It was a foolish thought. Whether he admitted it or not, the demon had found ties within the guild that could not be forgotten, whether it was with Ulbert, Asura, or Java herself. He respected Momonga too much to escape on his own, and coming from Az'gathan himself, if he stayed then he would eventually encounter stronger foes. He had fought valiantly during many guild raids before.

"I will be coming back, but right now I feel suffocated here." He glanced at Java, then at the Elder Lich. "I am not efficient with your system, and I am better off doing something else. I will go outside and aid Nazarick in this way."

"...Okay. [Message] if you see anything of importance."

Az'gathan left once the moon reached its apex. Java did not wait to say goodbye, but she did give him a pat on the shoulder and a relieved smile. _Glad to see you'll be fine. You're allowed to leave whenever you want, no matter what Momonga says. __Don't push yourself._

He never did smile. He snarled, he showed grief, and he was too often angry for that expression to be strange on his face, but as he turned Java could see the lines on his face as his mouth curved up. "Thank you."

And then Java went to sleep.

* * *

Well, this one was written right after the last chapter. Truth be told I was about to write Java avoiding Demiurge like the plague since she pretty much hates bad interactions and she doesn't want Ulbert's image to be stunk up by their differences, but I think that more realistically she'd understand that she has to face both him and Albedo seriously at some point and she'd decide not to wait until then.


	8. Chapter 8

This was hard to write

* * *

Chapter 8

There were moments, of course, when Java wondered what else she could've done before existing in this game.

If she had not stepped in to presumably 'save' these figures and aid their progress, if she had left the game of YGGDRASIL to its own devices, Java wondered where the beings of Nazarick would be right now. Alone? Terrified? Left with no instruction of what to do next?

Sometimes the thought of it reminded her of her own abandonment by Yggdrasil, and then the idea stung just a little bit more.

She had always thought that watching people had been a perk of her job. She could tell the little cues when someone was irritated, or angry, or when their expressions changed from serious to blank. That was an inherent part of her - just the watching.

And so attempting to replicate the motions had been slightly harder to do. Java was never very good at people talking, or interactions in general. So when the prospect of helping guide several thousands of soldiers in their battle against humanity came upon her, she could not conclude upon anything other than a _'we're so doomed'._

Momonga was good at fitting into roles like a second skin. He had the talent for it. Java wondered if he could have ever become an actor, especially if that character was something that he built himself. His roleplaying persona was exactly how he had played the game before, when YGGDRASIL had been nothing but an MMO for him to play. He had everything handled.

That guy had always run perfectly by himself, only falling back for another shoulder to lean on when it was fighting-related and a danger to his own safety. Otherwise, he was an introspective thinker, running over problems again and again on his own until it was solved smoothly.

Java's contributions were not needed and would likely hinder his process instead. Once he started, Momonga never found it easy to rest. There were times when she had to pull him away and set him to sleep, because his real body would not last several days without drink or sustenance. However, he was an undead now, and the undead did not need either of those things to survive.

There really wasn't much else to do other than feed her increasing human appetite (courtesy of the homunculus maids, those blessed servants), dream, and think around what to do other than idling about in the chambers of the treasury, the eighth floor, anywhere that would keep her from lapsing into total silence.

The floor guardians handled the rounds once Demiurge had told them of the inconvenience with Kyouhukou's message abilities, covering over that blemish with an eagerness to cover over their mistake. In fact, the security had widened even further than it already was, with Shalltear summoning more of her household to keep watch over the quieter areas.

And so Java settled for a quiet contemplation, watching the world wearily with two questioning eyes.

When she had first arrived here, the human kingdoms were vast and unyielding, surviving war again and again while their lands and their people prospered. It would continue giving life to the villages it saved, new shoots that sprouted as they traveled further and exercised more of their strength into foreign lands. The prospect of eternal growth would have been a heartening thought, but it was likely that in the centuries to come there would be territorial disputes.

The vision shifted and then there were structures in grey rock, buildings of some long-forgotten civilization. Below the layers and layers of dirt were memoirs of the history laying underneath, burial grounds to skulls and bones and other treasures that would eventually be unearthed to be studied once again.

Then the image changed to the dark underwater of the sea, coral and night and glowing figures in the dark. Seaweed shifted and swayed in the tide currents, pulling forth planks of rotted wood and other products of the lives taken under, obfuscated by the fog of the oceans. There were cuts of white within the water, raking across the waters and creating bubbles from where a tail or a fin had been before.

And then they were in the deserts, where nothing bloomed except the scarlet red slashes of blood and strife. Battles raged between unknown enemies and flags pointed straight up, spears defiantly raised towards the sky.

And then there was nothing.

_I am your god, all-knowing and endless._

There was no understanding its intentions because while Yggdrasil had been benevolent, it was not one that spoke freely. And when it did, the words were one of prophecy that every being could hear, their bodies echoing its message, spreading down deep into the earth and high above past the stars. In her head she asked herself: what _had _its existence meant to her?

The tree of gods had known the universe, and its omnipresent eye saw further than Java could ever hope to reach. But then if it knew everything, then why was its death so sudden and halting? Why had the stars rained down their retribution for their lost one, and why had the lightning crashed upon them for their sins?

Yggdrasil must have known that its creations would one day turn against it. Java wondered what that could mean for her own situation, and Momonga's as well.

But this was what her existence was for, was it not? She was never the main character of the story; or, rather, she had never been a character at all. She was the backdrop that wrapped around the players on the chessboard, waiting for them to play out the game to their own content.

There had been no depth to her. And then something changed, and suddenly she was there.

It must have been a sign. _Yggdrasil,_ her traitorous mind whispered, _it had given her this chance. Become the god, a replacement, a priest._

But Java ignored it.

It seemed that becoming human took quite a bit of her endurance away. That, and she now obtained an incessant need for sleep. She was not yet comfortable with how vulnerable people became when they were shut off to the outside world, but she would get used to it. Hopefully.

There had been a sanctuary that Yggdrasil upheld, untouched by the barrier of magic encasing this field while the adventurers and guilds crumbled outside. Forest folk dominated the lands they resided in, and there were scatterings of goblins and primarily monster-based life.

So with her sleep came dreams. More accurately, Java did not have any specifics that required an intensive imagination and other things that her mind could not yet form, more like vague memories of things that had already happened, but most of the time she floated in the blank recesses of her mind, thinking of nothing. It wasn't unpleasant, but she would much rather be dreaming of anything at all rather than carrying the void with her everywhere she went.

Even her distant past came to her in muddled, reoccurring nightmares. She did not like to think of her history, and she did not like being reminded of her insecurities and past errors. That was what she supposed was normal to be human, but it was so stark and paralyzing that for just one moment she wondered if she should just stop time forever and be done with it.

Yggdrasil came to her once during the night.

"Are you the real one or the fake one?" She groused distrustingly, pulling back once the vision of the eternal tree came forth above her. She had awoken to see its golden leaves shifting and swaying with an unknown breeze, spreading its branches out in a glittering fog of scintillating light.

The tree still did not reply. Java sighed.

"Fake. Tell me, then: why do I need to remove all of these things from the system? The World Enemies?"

Of course, there was still no response. She shrugged and dropped from her perch standing on nothing, floating in midair because she had become lucid and now she could do so many things that were originally out of her mortal control. She reached out and plucked a figg into existence, relentlessly chomping into it until the leftover juice spilled onto her fingers and under her jawline.

The act of intimidation did not faze either of them. It was an attempt, for sure, but considering Java was actually quite hungry she continued to eat the figg with no remorse. It was beginning to be discomforting by the way the sounds of ravenous starvation reached her own ears.

"They have done nothing," she spoke between bites. "Well. I do not care anymore to complete the mission, anyway. Incentive means nothing to me at this point, I already have everything I need right here."

The automatic voice of lilting machinery whirred, and the tree spoke finally: "[Do you not wish to see your Yggdrasil again?]"

"Don't you dare promise me something that you can't keep. False promises are the things I despise most."

The tree's particles shifted and shimmered with an effect, pretending to continue being the tree she had come to know very well. She even knew the swirls and the markings of its bark, the individual branches that made it so, the crevices where she knew marked each of the nine subsections where it held the world aloft. It was an uncanny resemblance, for sure. She could almost be fooled by it.

"Sure, you can pretend, but the voice of a god is not as easily copied. You exist here to try and trick me into seeing something that's dead come alive again. I know already - Yggdrasil's_ dead._ _I've seen it die myself_."

She spat the last sentence, bitter and resenting though unable to target it towards anyone other than herself. The robot voice haltingly returned to her.

"[Bringing the dead back to life is not an impossible feat. Resurrection spells exist within the boundaries of the game. If you are able to learn it-]"

Java halted. "Don't say it," she said despairingly, and then it ceased to speak. "Don't. I don't need it."

Death was the most natural part of living, and Java had grown accustomed to the idea of it. In some sort of backhanded way, it had given Java meaning to continue to live on, accept it as a way to return the old and bring forth the new.

It would bring her unfathomable relief if the great being returned, of course, but at the same time she knew that she would have done a terrible feat. Time was a linear path, and it was not meant to go back in a circle lest she see it being repeated over and over again like a loop on a track, unable to become what it could have been.

Besides thinking about the past too often for comfort, Java had never been forced into a leader position before. After several years worth of effort, she had looked over the creations that her god had made and could not give them a new meaning to their lives other than to survive and move on. And so they did - eventually the sacred forest of Yggdrasil became emptier and emptier, and Java stayed for far longer than she should've.

Even if Yggdrasil returned, what would they do after? Would she be able to return to the existence she had been before, or would she be entirely dependent on the work of a higher force, obeying the laws that they had taken for granted?

Java did not want to bring herself through that experience again. She straightened, cast the figg aside, and brushed aside the liquid. "I will leave, and you will not contact me again."

And then she left. The voice did not protest, but in her memories she could still hear the whirring of metal cogs, turning and ever-present.

Despite everything, the conversations between her and the Nazarick guardians were still strained and awkward. Java could not force them to stop kowtowing whenever they felt the need to, but it was worsening the situation because they could see that something was clearly bothering her but they could not tell what. Thus the cycle continued, and eventually Java hastily made the plan to leave in order to seek out the remaining World Enemies and figure out if they still existed here.

The thought of locating the things in very unfamiliar land was quite troublesome for her to think through: they had transported to a new area, and so perhaps Java would be unable to locate where the other World Enemies would be in order to complete the other Yggdrasil's request.

There was a restless feeling boiling within. She felt useless, stagnating in her self-isolation. And so she turned that restlessness into energy, regularly keeping contact with new pinpoints on the map, figuring out where there were similarities with the New World and where there were none.

It turned out that there was no connection between the two worlds. Not physically, at least. Yggdrasil had been made up of nine worlds, but this world only had itself.

"I'm going to help Situs map out the charts," she said, and Momonga had looked back at her with the knowledge that she would eventually leave, too. "I will see you again, Momonga. [Message] me if the sky starts falling."

"Yes," he replied, and then she left.

Demiurge had ordered an entourage to follow her, of course. He had even offered one of his own minions to suffice, although he seemed extremely reluctant to part. Perhaps the demon meant more to him as a guardian to Nazarick rather than the human. Either way, Java denied his offer. She merely carried her things, said her goodbyes, and followed out after Az'gathan's steps.

Most of the floor guardians present seemed extremely worried while following her orders; however, since they had earned her supposed ire not too long ago, they could not help but to let her do as she wished. Momonga told himself that it would be fine, she would call them if there was anything amiss, but still the cold feeling of dread slipped through his bones and mellowed quickly into an anticipation for the future.

Resting upon the cold, blue-tinged stone, a small fraction of the endless light that the barriers refracted from high above, she looked out into the distance, seeing nothing but the high peaks of white-crested mountains and the highlighting of gold upon the luminescent towers of trees.

There was nothing more that she needed: her restless nature grew content. Out under the skies, tracing constellations that were now new and strange to her, she saw a figure of patterns that looked like Aquila, a bird-shaped cluster that shone beautifully.

"What am I to do now?" she asked nobody, brow furrowing. The empty night did not respond to her call and so she turned and went to lean back against a tree, breathing in as her heart beat slower and slower by the minute.

Her sleep gave no respite.

She met humans on the road. Some were riding in carriages, hurried in their urgency to get to their destination for fear of goblin attacks. Others were warriors, armored and ready to complete their next quest. Java reveled in their momentary glances - they were so unique, so different, and yet at moments like these she would cross paths with the most spectacular of scholars and fighters and adults, and without a word they would continue on their journey, unaware of what thoughts resided in the next person they met.

The urgency of wandering had faded, but still she went on, mapping over fields and valleys and other small places that Ithersta had not yet gone to. She no longer responded to anything but the weather changes and the sharp smell of ash, of burning, which meant that someone else was camping nearby and she did not need company at the moment, no thank you.

There was a calmness in the feeling of being forgotten again, of waiting at the sidelines as the clouds passed on above her. She existed and that fact would not change. It was a reminder, in a sense, that she had not lost that part of herself and that she could return at any time, only she was choosing not to.

_Just a little longer, _she told herself, passing by the river stream. _A little farther, and then she could return home. _

This was an act that she had done countless times when she felt homesick or lonely, but the pain was a welcoming throb in her chest compared to the company of those who she would eventually, for some unknown reason, disappoint. That worry stifled her above all else until she could only sit and watch, terrified that her next move would be the wrong one.

What good was being omnipresent if each timeline stood in linear form, so easily cut or strung up like the strings on a puppet? Java could wield all the power and knowledge that she wished for, but in the end power meant nothing to her.

_Dance to your own heart's content, _she thought solemnly to the children amongst the villagers, each with their own futures in hand. _I will never wish to take that freedom. Knowing the secrets of this world can be a blessing, but it is also a curse._

Java could not have been more discomfited when Albedo had gazed up at her with adoration. When Shalltear had looked at her for forgiveness, or when Demiurge and Aura had stared through her as if she were a ghost. She was not the great being they wished her to be, because she knew the cost of becoming that person.

_Compassion, kindness, and then finally, death._

Yggdrasil's passing had not been kind. It had given her warning not to trust others as easily again, especially those who had high expectations or saw her as more than the human skin she wore as a cloak. There would never be a chance for the old Java to return, because that part of her was already long gone.

So there she continued to suffer on, alone. That betrayal had never gone through quite right, and there were parts of her that remained off when she tried to become whole again - fear made her stiff, and rage made her resilient. Humanity was the weakest, as they usually were, but they were also retrospective. Their memory lasted for eons.

One day, while walking near one of the bamboo-covered and peaceful gardens, she had heard the sound of haunting music that set her slightly on edge. Following it was also a difficult feat - if she stepped the wrong way or became distracted, the music would become even fainter than before. There was the scent of flowers, stronger than the average amount that she would wish to tolerate, and there was a creeping miasma settling in as her vision became clouded with the darkness.

There was no longer a need for pretense. She wordlessly cast her hand across in a waving motion, and the cloud vanished to let her step through and onward. The shrieking stopped, making her realize that she hadn't even heard the noise until then. Java looked up and stared.

It had once been a beautiful house, Java could at least tell that much. It was not dilapidated, but it was becoming old - she could see moss growing in, long vines that traveled up the walls of the structure. The roof plates were once a bright red, but now they were dulled and pulled apart, some of the tiles having been removed and likely washed away into the distance.

Whatever malevolent creature had lived here had left. Java promptly decided to live there for awhile.

The crude remaking of a place long-forgotten into a livable area was relaxing. It let her bring up old books and scrolls, treasures that let her see into the past without actually going there. Java learned about the owner of this hut - he had been young when he wrote this, in his mid-twenties, and he was a temple owner who took care of the grounds of their god.

Surprisingly, it was a spiritual one and not one of the humans who had transported to the New World. She learned of this from the daily entries he wrote, several notebooks worth of them, and the script remained clean and untarnished. The pages were yellowed, but the ink used was pristine. She wondered if there had been some type of spell that could slow the aging process.

There were also hints of their usage of martial arts. The man seemed to have a vendetta against wild magic users, and he ranted often about how there were many attacks on nearby villages due to the greediness of those who wished to sacrifice souls to their god. Java made sure to remember this, pocketing the books for safekeeping. She had not known about that specific detail, although soul sacrificing did sound like an old and primal ritual that could go easily awry.

The man apparently had a disciple. She had heard of the boy's apparent incompetence, although the man seemed to carry a soft spot for the child.

She cleared up the stone statues that the man had kept clean according to his daily journals, wiping away grime and years of dust. Cracks had formed within the surface of the figure, creating places for dirt that were harder to reach.

It was a respect for the dead, she supposed. Whatever god they prayed for, she hoped that it would know one last service to it, in respect for the temple owner who'd cared very much for it.

She stayed for as long as she needed to. The dead had no way of saying otherwise and the spirit that had settled there did not come back. She wondered what had happened to make it live here. Perhaps it had an old grudge, or maybe it was a wandering soul that chanced upon the house much like she did.

Java moved far past the Katze plains where she had originally planned to circle near, visiting places in the guise of a young mapmaker wearing a shawl to hide her face. A tribal chief of a non-human species had greeted her and welcomed her in, allowing her to stay in one of the huts of a fallen ally. In return she had given them gold, the coin of another world that they did not recognize nor understand the value of. "Melt it, then," she told them, shrugging as the lizards eyed it with keen vision. "Thank you for your hospitality. I will journey back to my home now."

"No, thank you," the chief humbly denied. "Your knowledge has far surpassed what we know of the human kingdoms. We are grateful for your generosity."

There were gravestones marking the losses of their loved ones. Java passed by them on the way out. They looked back at her, one lizardman seeming to be at a very young age and glaring back at her with animosity. The others gently cajoled him, turning him away, but Java knew the reason behind his anger.

The traveler's sword was clenched tightly between two clawed hands, disgusted by the weapon alone. A human adventurer had struck his father down, most likely.

Of all the things to bank on, she had really chosen the worst one, hadn't she? The corners of her mouth turned upwards in a bitter smile, hiding her face even further and walking out of the village.

The thing about traveling was that she enjoyed finding the most peaceful of places, far from civilization and the well-populated cities. Of course, there were dwarven areas that were also considered to be 'civilized', but the animosity for third-rate towns without humans was rampant amongst non-warriors.

She had enjoyed living with the moon elves and the dryads and the slimes, once upon a time. Then she had changed, and like the seasons so had they.

Humans hunted monsters regularly and on missions. If that did not change, then there would always be a rift between the races.

There were several more instances of a similar caliber as she moved further and further, hoping to reach the end of the continent and meet the sea. Their experiences with humans were ones of oppression and ridicule, and many covered up their nonhuman attributes when entering a human town or city. Unsurprisingly, the opposite was just as hostile - one dwarven city would not let her in and shut her out at the gate.

It was starting to sink in, the prejudice, but Java let it flow into her rather than cut her like a knife. She wasn't stupid enough to pretend to ignore it, not when it was right there in front of her, but there would always be those who needed kindness to help ease over old wounds.

She learned new things. She taught young village boys to hunt and shoot, and an old woman taught her how to weave magic into clothing. She helped to fish and to farm and to sow seeds, and she took those crops and shared them with outsiders.

One step at a time, she told herself as she became unaware of the ripples that her efforts were making.

She learned that there were magical spells able to produce salt, sugar, and spices, as well as ones which restored nutrients to the soil thus removing the need for a rotation method or a period of no harvest in agricultural standard. They also collected rainwater wherever it happened, and when she drank from the jars directly she realized that it was pure and untainted, without aftertaste or pollution.

She became knowledgeable about the workings of the blacksmith. He told her about how magical weapons were created by the magic caster, and although the mold was entirely the work of the smith the strength of the sword relied on the caster's skill level.

She brought wheat and carrots and corn and staple foods into other places, teeming with intelligent life. The goblins, wielding crude weaponry and hiding behind wooden stakes and boulders and in caves all scattered when she made her offerings, but eventually they came to realize that her bags of food did not explode when pulled apart for inspection.

Their systems did not change overnight, of course. They still went out to kill animals like boar and deer, using their pelts to shelter from the cold and as bedding. But they were able to store more items for the winter, when the nights grew long and there was no sun to be seen. With the new skill for farming opening up to them, they began trading with other goblins to raise their productivity.

To the cities, she began opening up places where adventurers should go to and the places where they should not. Some villages had blocked off all contact with humans, and to respect their wishes Java told guilds not to pillage or to conquer them. They acquiesced, but only after she had given them many offerings to bribe their favor.

(Far to the east and the north, the first goblin towns were emerging. It did not impact much, but the news caught the attention of several officials.)

The dryads welcomed her with open arms. They had heard the news from one of their sisters that a young human girl with long red hair may visit, and that if she did they were to treat her with care. Java did not understand why those herbs and potions had meant so much to that dryad but she did not complain. They offered her trinkets from the things they'd stolen, giving her jewels they had no use for and many furs, all of which the dryads detested. They had no need for such things, and the thought of skinning a live creature was abhorred.

She came and saw the fairy circles, river crossings that would guide her to the fae. Centaurs bowed as she greeted them, sharing their knowledge of the constellations and the skies, and pixies gleefully whispered secrets in her ear of the many things they knew. The fairy queen, they said, had died. Her magic had run out far earlier than any of them had expected, and she passed away in her sleep with no one the wiser. A new king would be needed, they shared with her.

_Why tell me this? _She whispered back. They did not reply. Java said her goodbyes and left quickly, feeling pensive for the second time. There were many changes throughout the New World that she was getting to know once again, but the World Enemies had still not shown themselves.

Remembering this, her gaze turned to the mountains once again, eyes searching minutely.

What else had changed during this transfer from the game realm to the living? Momonga and their creations would probably care to know, but Java did not have any other motive than the knowledge that if they existed, then she would eventually come across them anyway.

"There are 32 of these guys," she sighed to herself, shaking her head. "Who made 32 of them? An unbalanced game, that's what this is."

She found several other large creatures nesting in the desolate blizzards, one of which was a large and ferocious dragon - it roared and shook the heavens, tumbling an avalanche of snow and rock down below her. She passed by it with some hassle and managed to hide away in a nearby cave, frowning as it rumbled about outside. And then she turned.

Sitting there, holding a cup of tea and staring back at her, was one of the demons she'd felled before.

Java blinked slowly.

"Uh...your name is Wrath, am I correct?" She asked. He grimaced, setting his cup down and getting up with a swish of his robes.

"Yes."

They stood together in awkward silence before he abruptly moved to set up a second pillow, placing it apart from the one he'd been sitting on. "Come."

She sat down clumsily, waiting for him to place a second cup in front of her. The cave had been furnished accordingly, filled with various parts of furniture and talismans. There was an ink set on the desk table, tucked away in the corner of the room. The bed was simple and made from wood.

"How are you doing?" She asked, looking around with slight interest. Well, the fact that he'd recognized her meant that their memories had been moved to match that of the future, or Situs had visited him already. Java frowned.

"I am alright, thank you," the demon replied, delicately raising a hand to set aside both cup and plate. She tilted her head: according to the books she'd read on demons, they did not require drink or food to survive.

She absolutely was not expecting for any of them to actually be here. In another world entirely, they had been part of the main quest to vanquish, a fundamental part of the plot to save Yggdrasil and prevent the World-Eater from devouring the remaining nine worlds. But if Wrath was here, then surely so were the rest of them.

Was this an alternate universe? She wasn't even sure if Yggdrasil was a constant here, and the way the kingdoms had been clothed and armed showed that their magic had brought them far to make up for any technological advances, but they were still lacking in any sort of appliances. They seemed to be in the medieval era if anything. Java tapped her finger against the floor thoughtfully until Wrath spoke once again.

"In that other universe, we are nothing more than machinery following our code," the demon began, halfheartedly moving his hands onto the table. "You had removed that bridge in our memories when you took us out of that system. Now, we are free. And I remember everything."

Java's mouth opened. Then she closed it. He continued.

"Once I had realized this, I sent myself into isolation. I vaguely recall you threatening our lives if we misstepped around the humans, and so I avoided them altogether. The demons are really not too keen on leaving them for long, especially if they begin to encroach on our territory." He glanced up at her, taking in her expression. She didn't even know what her face looked like at that moment. "If that time occurs, I may be forced to take more drastic measures."

"Up _here?" _She blurted out, gesturing to his humble abode. "In the _mountains?" _

"There are several nomad tribes that wander below," he said pleasantly, interlocking his fingers. "They do not come up so high due to the weather difficulties, but if they did they will find many things. Such as..."

They both turned towards the entrance. Outside, she could still hear the dragon roaming.

"Ah."

She turned to Wrath again, sitting there and facing her head on while waiting for the facts to sink in. She looked around at the place that he had, the items he possessed - for all the things humans said about demons, bloodthirsty and vain creatures, she did not see any of that being reflected in his home. "Are you content here?"

He looked as if he were ruminating over his response, forehead creasing and shoulders moving back. He drew one hand closer to adjust his robes, and on his hand she could see the lack of rings from where she had seen him wear many. She was becoming further and further surprised by these people, she admitted, but it was not unpleasant to be wrong.

"...Lonely, at times," he told her. "I had never talked with my brothers and I likely never will get to speak to all of them again, but I have found a home here."

"Would you-" she halted, then tried again. "I am going back to the place where I live. Situs will come back as well. There are many demons there, and most of them are part of a heteromorphic race. Almost all of them, even."

He looked more than interested. "Demons?" He repeated, then blinked. "And they let you live there?"

"...Yyyyeess," she said while dragging the word out, wondering what the hundreds of servants idolizing her very existence would say to that. "They may be slightly overbearing, but you may help them a lot. They are new to this world and they need to learn many things."

He judged her then, eyeing her up and down carefully. "I never would have expected someone like you to care so much about others," he told her with a slow smirk, and she promptly scowled while throwing the pillow she had at him. He dodged it and it was sent flying. "I will go. Tell me where and I will follow."

She did not have any of YGGDRASIL's spells in her repertoire, she would admit. Momonga had never figured it out or he had simply never asked. But she cast things wordlessly and they were not of the same caliber, as her shots were either too strong or too weak, different and yet attempting to be similar. She did not create a [Greater Teleportation] spell because she did not know how.

So instead, she shoved all of his things into her pouch while he watched curiously. And then she grabbed his hand, began to fly, and pulled him straight up and out of the cave he'd once called home.

Of wizards and wands, of soldiers and spears, and even from monsters and of beings so grandiose that they did not care for anything at all, Java hoped that the skies could be lighter. Maybe then, she thought, winds carrying her back to the tomb of Nazarick without the use of a teleportation spell, could these people finally understand how accepting the world could be.

* * *

Thank you for reading. I'm starting to slow down with writing this, but hopefully I'll pick it up again soon. I suppose taking my time ensures better quality over quantity.


	9. Chapter 9

i changed a lot of things over the past several months. Spelling errors, character moments, and various other nuances. To any older readers: if you'd like to read again from the beginning then please go ahead and head back to Chapter 1.

* * *

Chapter 9

Momonga remembered that the Thirteen Heroes had actually kept non-human members. He had always paid attention to the lore when going over the cutscenes and the plot despite Touch Me's penchant for fighting rather than watching. Ulbert did enjoy them as well, but truthfully he had always liked to move things in the way that he wanted and despite their legacy as one group out of the World Enemies he despised them the most for shunning their counterparts.

_"It was said that they respected each other no matter what the council had thought of them," Momonga told him while reading over the bullet points he'd written down for reference. Ulbert had scoffed._

_"That must be the worst excuse they've had yet. Just because they had heteromorphic characters in their lot doesn't mean they would treat them any kinder, did they?"_

Momonga had to agree. They didn't even add the nonhuman Heroes to their roster, which was why they only had thirteen in their numbers despite having more. This was not something that many people cared about, however, because human characters often did not look at heteromorphs in general. Other than killing them, he supposed.

Memories are fantastical things, weren't they? But that wasn't what Momonga wished to focus upon at the moment. Instead, he turned his attention to other things, the fonder tidbits of the game that he had enjoyed over their many long years together.

He could still hear the whistling of the mountain winds, the sparkling lights hitting the edge of the horizon as the sun rose along with the cold morning breeze, sky meeting ocean and tinting the world in oranges and flamboyant colors that brought him nostalgic memories of heroic quests he'd fulfilled.

There were castles that rose high above, peaks of white stone and black tiling and stained windows that proudly emblazed their symbols up to refract the sun's rays, hitting pinpricks on the ground below as they moved along with the sun and shimmered with greens and blues and rich purples that reminded him of mermaid scales. If the game had kept his status in check, he would most likely never have experienced the side-quests that they were allowed to do without needing to be human characters. That part was one thing that Momonga had enjoyed dearly, that was for sure.

Maybe that hope had transferred over somehow, the need to give humans more than a second chance. Ulbert had strayed away from fully immersing himself along the meager, bland human quests that were given to him as options, but Touch Me had accepted them with a vigor that Momonga had felt a slight relief for. He did not hate humans the way Ulbert did, and if it gave him the experience that he craved then so be it. Momonga just wanted to see everything that this world had to offer him, and it showed.

It didn't really matter to him that he got more glares from the player adventurers moving alongside him as he ran about with his friend by his side. He knew that the zones would keep him from dying to an enemy race, and so the discomfort faded away quickly as he soaked up all the knowledge he could about the kingdom and the way it ran.

Of course, this was one of the moments he had shared alone with Touch Me before they had formed their group together. And then they had met Peroroncino, and Ulbert, and Tabula, and Java had aided them in their boost to the higher ranks. Of course, they had pulled their own weight and reached one of the greatest guilds known to YGGDRASIL, even as the amount of players started declining.

Tabula was not the sanest of persons, and Ulbert definitely had a few problems outside of the game that needed to be checked. Momonga never told them this, but he had added it consciously to the list of 'things-he-knew-about-his-members that he should be careful of', the topics that he carefully diverted whenever needed. He was good at those sorts of things, which was how he had gotten the title of Guildmaster in the first place.

He had forgotten that part of him when he had lost his emotional side, that was painfully true to him now. Momonga had never been as calculating as he was in this moment, pulling up security measures with the tactical mind of Tabula's creation, moving all their assets with the much-needed assistance of Ulbert's demon commander. He would never be able to separate them from the people he knew, and although he knew that it was troublesome he needed the attachment more than ever to remind him of the things he'd lost.

Not just his friends. He'd forgotten how to feel as well.

Demiurge had brought up the topic to him one day in a surprising display of vulnerability that he had never seen him do before. The demon admitted with extreme reluctance that he had never expected empathizing with humans to be so hard, and he had come to Momonga for help with this case.

"These personal matters had never required me much thinking upon, since any thoughts that have gone through my head was clearly the work of my creator and thus should never be questioned," Demiurge spoke with clarity. "However, to sympathize with the things I view as lesser has caused me great struggles, and I am not willing to let this hinder my progression to earn Java-sama's approval."

Momonga could not move his skull to form an expression, but outwardly he chose to form his confusion by inclining his head. "From what I have been told from Java, she doesn't expect anything from you other than to understand that humankind means something to her. That does not mean that you must cast your own feelings aside."

Demiurge appeared frustrated. "I must try, must I not? Ulbert has told me all the mistakes and qualms of humankind, yes, which makes the results of trying to view them as more quite lackluster. It would be the same as attempting to put an ant on equal footing with a god. But if a being as great as you and Java-sama were to impart to me this knowledge, then surely you must be right as well."

Momonga carefully did not impart the fact that Java was technically an existence at an even greater standpoint than he was based on what she'd told him and respectfully did not reply, because to tell the truth he did not have an answer as well. Gods could be wrong, and they could have many different opinions. He wondered if he should tell Demiurge that fact.

The demon already knew, in his opinion. Demiurge was probably still struggling through it. There could only be one perfect god to rule over them all, and that was the impartial one. If Touch Me were to be in his place, maybe Demiurge would have had a different outlook on who was supposedly the greatest being available to guide them.

So why _did_ Java care about Yggdrasil so much?

Momonga was worried about the amount of attention she paid to the World Enemies. He had always been wary of the chance that they would encounter one in this world, but the way she sought them out must have been for a specific reason. The more World Items they collected, the better, but Java seemed frantic in the way she searched for them. Java would definitely not care as much if she had full faith that nothing was going to attack them in the future, but it was beginning to make him quite antsy.

There was nobody else to talk with and to share his concerns. Momonga could not talk about this with Albedo, the very implication of doing so causing a shiver to go down his spine. The ones that he turned to most often just to speak to them were his remaining guild members, and they were all gone. He was only holding down what was left of the forty-one.

He was tired, Momonga realized. And even while he would never physically need to sleep again, he desperately wanted some sort of reprieve as a distraction.

Apparently he had gotten his wish, and right on time. Momonga was soon interrupted by a loud earthquake that shook the ground and he jerked out of his throne, eye sockets flaring. For it to have reached even the tenth floor, and coming from the surface level...

"Albedo," he barked. She was immediately by his side, teleporting to him through the ring on her left hand. He had bestowed multiple rings upon his floor guardians in order to make communication and transport far easier, and he was glad to have done so even now. "Status report."

She did not show anything but the tremor in her fingers as she spoke. "Java-sama has been compromised. There is an intruder outside, and he has her as hostage while demanding an audience with you, Lord Momonga."

Momonga did not register letting go of his staff.

He did not remember staring back at the succubus, disbelieving, until he remembered exactly what rage felt like as it began curling up and into him like a vice.

Albedo showed the slightest hints of bloodlust, feathered wings fluffing up at the prospect of new blood, and as her pupils dilated he knew it was not because of fear but for the sake of saving Java. "I will be ready in a moment," she said, and then she promptly disappeared. Momonga stood, sentencing the staff back into its station.

It came back to him now. He remembered why he had been so keen on preserving the place they had founded their guild upon, the gold they had spent struggling as they focused on one goal, the wholehearted efforts they had cobbled together to create their nation. (The love and the fear and the many, many things he would do for his guild members because they were _his, _god damn it, and he cherished them more than anything he had ever known.)

He did not need to speak it. Momonga knew that, but he did it anyway in a reminder to himself that he would never forget it again.

"_They,"_ Momonga said with a deceptive calm,_ "will know the wrath of Ainz Ooal Gown_."

* * *

Further away, Wrath watched the human Java drag her feet wearily with eyes shuttered half-closed, wondering why she seemed so tired.

It came to his attention once again that she had 'killed' him before. It was the first thing he had ever experienced in a long time, and it was the first neutral emotion he had felt other than rage and fear and painful loneliness. She had simply gotten up to the altar where he stood waiting for any intruders, hit him once with the weakest amount of killing intent he had ever experienced in his life, and then left. He had come to a strange realization after that as he started questioning his conscience and became aware of certain things, gaining autonomy over his limbs, and several other fears that had come to life that he had never realized.

He was grateful for it, of course. But there was also the underlying fear that without her guided assistance he would return to that miserable life, spouting away lines that he did not care for and dying at the hands of mortal adventurers who wished for prestige and coin.

She did certain things that he did not understand. She did not carry any weapon on her, and she was always disarmed even during a fight. Even magic casters wielded wands and staves, maybe even a book, but she carried nothing and casted magic without summoning circles or words. She watched those who meandered off paths, helping them from afar with fire magic or healing spells whenever they stopped to make a fire and rest for the night in the woods. He still didn't quite understand. He didn't have to.

"Why don't you just show yourself to them? It will be far quicker to do whatever you're casting on them," he said. Java blinked.

"It's easier to hide," she replied. Wrath acknowledged the statement. Human beings were contradictory creatures, and he had no use for attempting to pick out their reasons.

There were several other things that he observed about her peculiar actions: she took her time gazing at the stars. She liked to drag her feet across dirt. Her hair was a wild mane that she cared very little for pampering, and to his knowledge she seemed very reluctant to put a hairbrush through it.

He himself cared about appearances. This disregard for the common haircare made him slightly discomfited, but whether Java noticed or not he made sure to let nothing get stuck just in case it would be lost forever, never to return.

Wrath gazed dumbly at her now, utterly disbelieving.

"What is this."

Java gave him a deadpan stare. "Now you know how I'm feeling most of the time. I don't know, either."

There was an animal of some sort in her hair, stuck with whatever else Java had decided to let close to her head. Wrath had fished it out with a stick while Java observed it calmly, prodding at it to see if it was still alive. It was not.

"I did mention how there was a strange scent on you, but this was not what I was expecting," he finally spoke, eyebrow twitching. She shrugged.

"Whatever, I've gotten weirder things in there," she replied.

Wrath promptly put his face in his hands.

"I have second thoughts about coming with you," he spoke, although it was muffled and definitively lessened the intent behind it.

Java laughed - or, in his case, cackled.

Then he became more concerned when she toppled over and faceplanted, groaning into the earth near the root of a tree. He was grateful that there wasn't any hard surface for her to accidentally knock herself out with. "What is wrong?" He asked.

"Tired," he heard the mumble. "Didn't sleep. Sun went down long ago. When did we stop? Goodnight..."

Realization dawned on Wrath's face. He had long forgotten that humans required sleep, and they often did so when the night came. They were foolish to do so when the night was when vampires and other monsters became more active, feasting on blood under the cloak of darkness. He, himself, had lead many a time while overlooking a raid on villages. That was centuries ago.

There was a fragility when Wrath finally picked her up off the ground, dust covering the front part of her clothing. Her hair fell to the side and so did her head, laying limp like a ragdoll without any wires or joints. She was snoring loudly, too, making his eye twitch even further.

"Heading in this direction," he murmured under his breath, looking out over the sea of forests and other areas of notice. "She mentioned a field of hills. I will find them."

Slinging her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes, he began heading out to make up for the distance they would have lost should they have stayed near the ground. Java was unmoving, still asleep.

He reminisced over the several days they had spent while traveling back. He had not expected her to travel this far alone and asked if she had been on a scouting mission. She had replied with a solid "yes" and nothing else. Wrath had dropped the subject.

He had not always stood alone on the precipice of a storm while being surrounded by broken trees and lightning strikes. He had also reigned a territory with no subjects, cold-hearted and as mechanical as the unknown force controlling him as he acted out what his plot had wished for him to do. Wrath was a puppet until suddenly he wasn't, and then he left to turn off-script before they could ever force him to return.

He had joined the New World, waiting for the human who had saved him long ago to face him again.

This parting of memories left him lost and confused at times. He had forgotten where he had come from and what his brothers' faces looked like. He had remembered that he had been stuck in that wretched spot for many years, waiting for it all to end. He had not seen the world outside ever before, and the experience was a fresh start.

So like Java, he had found solace in traveling. He saw the sky turning auburn as the sun began its ascent, he saw the oceans shimmering with color as they, too, changed, he came across mountains and snowfall and grandiose things that may have been so trivial to what a normal demon thought.

The skies, he thought absently, were beautiful when they were not covered up by lightning and dark clouds. The revelation made his once-long rage die away, not completely gone but left simmering. He was not an angry beast, not irrational nor egoistic. He was glad that his existence continued on past the place where it had stagnated.

This freedom persisted in her, as well. He could see that she valued it just as much as he did, if not more so. She enjoyed the rain, and she did not care if she was drenched through and soaked. She liked mushrooms. Her penchant for lost fabrics and shields and broken things knew no bounds, and she searched run-down carriages on the side of the road just because she could. He could not deny that it was becoming a little enlightening, the things she mentioned about those small details.

_"Woah, the patchwork was really well-done here! They must have gone through quite a tumble for the trees to poke holes all the way around."_

_"This part has a really wide dent in it. Couldn't have been a raid unless there was a troll was wielding a very blunt iron club."_

_"Holy shit! Fairies!" She pointed in the distance. Wrath saw nothing._

_"Hm," he had replied, going along with her antics._ _He stayed for several more hours watching her attempt to zero in on an unsuspecting fae. It had likely escaped due to her loud exclamations of sightings and her overbearing excitement. They moved on eventually._

Despite Java's medley of personality traits and other factors that made her something that he was rather unused to, he knew that she did not do things completely in the human way. She moved like a predator sometimes, footsteps silent even over crinkling leaves. She stood silent at others, head craned to hear something that he would not catch. Surely her senses weren't better than his, he thought dully, but after she flickered past him and fell on top of a surprised group of slimes he restated his opinion.

...Perhaps it was his senses that had dulled over the years. Living in a cave and hearing nothing but the sounds of dragon roars and the whistling of winter wind had probably ruined his hearing quite a bit.

"What was it like while being in the system?" Java asked, prodding at a fire that some person had likely forgotten to put out and left the ashes smoldering. That was a terrible idea, she had told him sternly, since the wind could pick up any residue and create a forest blaze that would be much harder to put out. He had nodded, even though he never made fires and he was not bothered by the cold.

He had looked at her knowingly, seeing her gaze pensively into the flames. Java was busy thinking of something else, but since the question seemed important he answered anyway: "I felt nothing. I remember it all, of course, but there was really no emotion attached to it. It was just a memory."

And it was - he could still feel the brief flashes of pain, the struggle it took to fight off many people at once and survive, the numbing fear that even if he died he may not truly rest. He may regenerate like this forever, immortal and alone, forever stuck in this same lifeless place that he cared nothing for.

Loneliness, he had finally come to realize. He had not truly talked with anyone because the ones who came to him could not hear him, only heard the script pouring from his mouth like static.

The human's offer of exchanging cultural differences had ebbed it slightly. Java spoke gaily of things that he had never even heard of, the advancements of technology unknown to him from the New World - the implementation of electrical appliances to create light, to make heat and entertainment through screens run by lines and wiring and tiny strings of code. That was how humans had created him, she said as he looked back at her, awestruck. He had believed her.

He had questioned it before, when he had opened his eyes one day with the knowledge that his brothers were elsewhere in the world without knowing why or _how. _He had not known why, but many things had been answered through Java's aid.

The thought did not sting now. It never would. Why would he be bitter over having no existence before being graciously allowed to live, to experience these small pleasures of life? The only thing he would ever remain jealous of was that he had been given a late start while humanity had idled about, carefree, able to move and act as they pleased.

He had this now. He would never let go of this feeling.

"Thank you," he said to her, and Java's brow furrowed in obvious puzzlement. He did not feel the urge to explain to her what for, not even when she nodded dumbly to accept whatever she had done to grant his attention. Wrath would never be able to express how much it meant to him, so he did not try. He hoped that she understood the meaning though his words regardless.

In the fields where Nazarick stood, one of their more adequate-leveled servants had just undergone their rounds surveying a site where Aura had planned to build, carrying in lumber so that they could begin construction. However, upon spotting something in the distance and immediately zeroing in on it, he fell back behind the treeline so that he could remain hidden and see who it was. Fortunately, his sight was far better than even his peers.

The winged demon squinted in an attempt to see further and spot out whoever was currently heading in their direction. If he did not pause then he would be mere passerby and nothing more, but they would still have to be cautious in case they were accidentally spotted. But then he saw not one person, but two.

He paled significantly upon realizing who it was. Or, at least, the person that was currently slung over the other's shoulder. The Supreme Being was unmistakable.

"A-Albedo-sama?" The demon servant shakily [Messaged], fumbling to find the right words to say while she was busy sorting out whatever important mission Momonga had given her. He would surely lose his life if he were to cross her. Albedo's disapproving frown through the spell was palpable.

"What is it?" She snapped, casting away several of the screens she had been using only to pull up new ones in its place. There was a piece of information she was looking to find and she was becoming frustrated because it just wasn't there. Where could it have gone? "I am very busy."

"Java-sama has returned, but she is under unpleasant circumstances. You see, she is-"

"Java-sama has arrived?" She brightened in the next instant, and he could hear shuffling as she began pulling aside all of her work. She could work on it later: she was sure that Momonga would forgive her once he realized that she was out greeting another Supreme Being's safe return. "Good. I will be outside in a moment."

"She had been knocked out!" The servant finally cried, feeling the last of his life being drained away as he kept his eyes trained on the two. "There is a demon intruder, he is carrying her over his shoulder. She is unresponsive at the moment, it even looks like she has been knocked unconscious."

Albedo's sharp clicking of heels against the marble floor abruptly stopped.

"What," she spoke darkly.

The air dropped one or two degrees in temperature, and although the low-level servant wasn't there in the room with her he could feel the frigidity in her voice. He could not stop there. "It appears that he is searching for the entrance to the tomb. He has been floating over the hills for several minutes now, I am afraid that he will soon find us-"

"Call Demiurge!" She barked, and he hastened to comply. "I will inform Momonga-sama. We must bring her back unharmed!"

"Yes, Albedo-sama!"

And then the shockwave made her stumble, the winged servant careening as well, and she flung herself to a nearby wall as a support as she flicked her hand forward, struggling to concentrate. "Momonga-sama," she gasped, reaching for her ring with her right hand, and then she teleported to him without further ado.

Momonga was shaking when she told him what was wrong. He was trembling. With rage, she knew, and something else.

Albedo felt it too. She was afraid. They were the last of the Supreme Beings, but they had formed such a strong connection together that she could not put aside her emotional attachment either. Her loyalty was doomed, and she would do whatever it took to save those she felt closest to.

And so she left before her rage could consume him too, because she had already erred once and she could not do it again.

"Demiurge," she called, and he had already responded through hurried pants. He was afraid, too. She felt relieved. "Where are you?"

"I am bringing my servants. I will be out soon enough." She could practically hear the plea in his tone. "Get her back, Albedo. Whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes," she promised, and then her helmet came on over her head and over pristine white horns.

Wrath was waiting for their response. He surveyed the hills around him after spotting the servant hovering uncertainly at the treeline, then came down to nod politely. "Where are they?" He asked it without further humiliation.

The servant had been shaking. "In a moment," it replied, bowing low and head lowered to the floor so that it could not meet Wrath's eyes. It was an adequate sign of respect for someone of his stature, Wrath surmised, but utterly unnecessary. He was no longer the demon who killed in an instant; rather, he preferred verbal battles and through games of the mind, less physical but just as fulfilling.

"I know you are here," he boomed, his voice echoing through the trees. The demon servant cowered. "Reveal yourselves."

There was no reply for a long, drawn-out moment. Wrath considered lowering himself to the ground as well to convey his willing attitude when he heard the sharp hiss of metal from behind him.

"Release Java-sama immediately," Albedo spoke with trembling bloodthirst. Resting on her shoulder was a large battle axe, perfect for beheading and for intimidating weaker things than she. Demiurge stood by her side, equally as furious if not more as his hands sharpened into knives.

Wrath picked said person up by the back of her shirt. Albedo jerked forward only to be pulled back by Demiurge, whose tail was now rimrod straight as his scales pulled up.

"Oi, Java," he said, shaking her about. They could hear the solid _thump _her head made against her shoulder, and Demiurge snarled. "Your friends are here. Wake up."

Java yawned as she eventually came to, and Albedo had dropped the axe in favor of putting her hands to her face, disbelieving.

"Java," Wrath said once she was awake, and instantly he could feel several glares burning into his back. He ignored them. "You're awake."

"Yeah," she replied dumbly. "Do you think anyone can sleep through all this noise?"

"Java-sama, do you know this person?" Albedo said softly. Demiurge's army stopped moving as he made his order, wariness turning to stoic apathy.

"Yes." She saw the army behind them, saw Momonga appear beside Albedo in shock, and waved. "Yo."

"My apologies," Albedo demurred as she dropped to one knee. They seemed to have realized what had happened, but instead of being angry Momonga sighed and leaned backwards. With a start, Java realized that he had been worried. "I was not expecting the event of bringing back a stranger. As such, our hospitality is quite lacking."

"No need to worry," Wrath said as he put Java down. "This was a surprise visit. I would expect nothing else from allies coming to their aid."

This seemed to please Albedo, who flushed happily at the compliment and cast eyes to Momonga. The skeletal figure searched Wrath and slackened his jaw slightly, recognition flaring his sockets red.

"You are Wrath, the World Enemy," he noted in surprise. Demiurge shifted minutely, the implication causing great displacement amongst his servants.

Albedo watched their turmoil in kind, nerves fraying to the limits.

Both had heard of several attempted conquests regarding those under the category they had named 'World Enemies.' Even their guild members had worked together in order to fight them, carrying with them full equipment and spells while learning their enemies' movements, yet they were unable to defeat their opponents when trying. World Enemies were able to bypass the racial resistances of heteromorphic creatures through their attacks, and their existence alone posed a threat to their safety.

Other guilds had tried the same with similar results. They were hard to find and even harder to kill despite their advantage in numbers, and as such both Albedo and Demiurge were now wary of Wrath's interest in Nazarick. Java only slightly quelled that fear as she declared his allegiance to them.

However, this person was a demon. Moreover, they could practically feel the aura radiating from him - Aura of Despair was an ability that could be used even against stronger opponents, and while Wrath had turned it off the moment they had teleported to the front lines they had felt the effects instantaneously. Demiurge had heard stories about Wrath from Ulbert, stories that the being was the strongest of all demonkind and a legend amongst the races. Apparently, he had lived in isolation for a very long time in order to fulfill eternal solitude. If anyone were to disturb his respite, they would surely lose their life.

And yet there he was, being moved around by a human much smaller than him, one who was dear to all of the people within Nazarick - monsters and otherwise.

Demiurge tuned out their banter to pay more attention to Momonga's reaction, wondering what their next step would be regarding this threat to their guild and their safety. Although Java seemed perfectly fine, he was worried about where Wrath's loyalties would lie once he stepped into their boundaries and thereby placed their full trust in him. Momonga raised a hand to interrupt.

"How long will you be planning to stay?" The Supreme Being offered as first consideration. He knew exactly how to handle both internal and external affairs, Demiurge thought as he relaxed minutely, and it was phrased well enough so as not to be confrontational or weak-willed.

"Demons are often solitary creatures," he replied with the curl of his mouth. Java sighed.

"Overconfident fools, more like," she muttered under their breath. Wrath swiped a hand at her and they tensed, ready to intercept what would be a fatal blow -

\- but Java merely ducked and it went passing over her head harmlessly.

"Situs is here, you say?" Wrath intoned, looking about curiously. The demons paused, the Latin translation processing in their minds. Java could see the realization dawning on Momonga's face.

"You mean he's-"

"Yeah."

Java scratched her head as Momonga stepped back before reorienting himself and coughing. "He has not returned yet, but once he hears that Wrath has arrived I am sure he will come back as soon as possible."

"I see."

Wrath did not sound reluctant to meet his supposed sibling, rather the opposite: he met Java's eyes and smiled slightly, glad for the opportunity given.

And as Wrath was allowed in through the entrance, as Java turned back to survey the (un)familiar hills once again, she could feel the wind against her back.

* * *

yo i'm not doing too great right now and my arms are noodles gbye


	10. Chapter 10

I'm back.

This is the draft that I never ended up finishing and decided to post. I'll edit it again soon, it's a little sparse.

Time to hit the road.

* * *

Chapter 10

Java watched Nazarick and wondered, sometimes, if it would ever become home.

Their creatures all felt this urge crawling up on them, the undeniable fear and adoration to obey the call. Skeletons would rise to wield a sword and shield. Demons would form a contract to take an unwavering loyalty to Momonga's beck and call. Lizardmen and forest beasts and enemies alike would take one knee due to the arsenal he held behind him. And even then, it was already overkill.

So if their powers were unquestionable and they had proven themselves already, nobody would dare defy them again.

How boring was that? How sad was it to stand at the very top while looking down at the splendors and spoils and conquests, and that was what it took to finally realize that in the end it didn't really mean anything at all?

Momonga didn't have human emotions anymore. And so he worked like a well-oiled machine, dull and constant. But Java still had emotion, and her thoughts already knew how this would all end. Momonga would keep living like this until the end of time, conquering the world and dreaming of the next.

She knew what he wanted: the past was already here in front of him and even so he could do nothing but wait, and wait. His friends had fallen to greater needs.

And so Java watched as Momonga worked and worked without real purpose. He was a leader in some sense, but it was really Albedo and Demiurge doing most of the actual business. Like an ant controlled by the queen, his servants did all of the direct actions while he sat isolated in a room full of papers and quills, alone and clinging and desperately hopeful.

Java couldn't call it 'tragic' just yet. Momonga himself didn't feel as if anything was wrong, or maybe he did and he was putting it away just as he did with his feelings of betrayal, of abandonment. But already she couldn't look at him without feeling the sudden surge to cry, to feel an iota of pity. He had lost the things he had loved to the shallow things, and now he was to face the consequences.

The non-players all knew of the strength of the Supreme Beings. They could create life in the blink of an eye and destroy it just as easily on mere whim. They had known this to be fact as soon as they had opened their eyes and were introduced to the world, orders at the ready.

What they had not known was the history behind their strength, and up until that point they had never wondered too much about it. But Java knew, deep down, that they could not have been born with such power. Why would Tabula have been so protective of their leader? Why would they have focused so much on their biggest strengths and weaknesses, building up their dungeon walls while defending them from outsiders?

But humans did. Even before transporting into the marshlands they had always been targeted, whether by race or by fear. They packed into groups and ran down other nearby villages, cornering them and gaining experience in the process. It dwindled the trade that they had been hoping for.

Albedo somewhat knew the minds of her superiors. Momonga had grown to be more welcoming. Ever since the doomsday prediction he had started to look her in the eyes like another being, an equal, and it filled her with both joy and impossible greed. What could she do to make him continue to look at her?

Java did not impose upon Albedo's disobedience, and so to the NPCs it felt like a reward that they could never have hoped for but got anyway. Her Supreme Beings did not care much for lesser needs such as sleep or sustenance or sex, but they still entertained their servants' thoughts.

All of it coming together... the picture was lacking, and Java knew that it always would be. As they were, the NPCs were almost there but still untangible like a reflection in a pool or a mirror. They didn't have the full picture yet due to the inexperience, facing the world by themselves and realizing what it meant to live and laugh and learn, to have mistakes and be alright. All they knew was to compare themselves to their superior and find themselves lacking, ingratiating themselves again and again in a meaningless cycle.

(And in a way, as demons drew out the worst traits of humans, humans drew out the best parts of themselves and allowed everyone else to feel it. The joy of dance. The wholesome parts of love. Those friends that were without strings or shackles, the ones that you'd live and die for and still be alright with.)

And so she watched.

Az'gathan... Albedo did not care much for him. Suffice to say, he and his brethren had come from the group of World Enemies that called for the destruction of the world. They had directly harmed the Supreme Beings in the raids, forcing almost all of them to fall down and revive themselves but leave no quarter. She had seen them regenerate before her own eyes and wondered, if they did not die and the world ended, would they be alone and suffer an eternity on their own? Perhaps this was why Tabula had created her, to be a companion?

Java knew that Albedo felt little for her creator, but this time it was a grim respect that she was now alive to listen and understand. Maybe this was what her true purpose had been. It was worth any price to pay, and if it distracted them from possible death for eternity then she would surmise useless ideas all she wished. Alas, Demiurge likely knew all of this far before she did. She was the overseer, but the tactician was her sole informant.

The demons naturally disliked each other. It was only under certain circumstances, such as living under the same leader, that they became amenable to each other. Az'gathan was there when she was created and so she listened to his orders (hypothetically, since he had never given her any since they had transported) but as of now, Albedo felt very conflicted.

Wrath had just visited for the sake of peaceful negotiations, but already there was a sheer power difference that they all could tell. Albedo could not fight him alone, and she was already half sure that Shalltear would be unable to as well.

It made them uncomfortable, but if the Supreme Beings were okay with it then Albedo could oblige only for appearance's sake.

Demiurge snapped her awake. He allowed his troops to retreat but stepped forward to stand alongside his overseer, tail drawn upward. "Shall we step inside? We can prepare accommodations there."

Situs and his brother dutifully followed after him, entering back into the chapel's entrance that guarded the first hall of Nazarick. Albedo turned as well, waiting for the two Supreme Beings that had not yet moved. Momonga seemed to be waiting for Java who had yet to respond, still in a trance. Albedo sharpened her gaze as she strained to see or hear whatever the two had been saying before, but there was nothing there to be noticed.

"Java?"

"Nothing," she replied finally, looking back down. Then she closed her eyes. "I just remembered something."

They followed the great World Enemy inside.

Demiurge sat them down deeper into the tombs past the floors and the first throne room, giving them space. Wrath stared intensely at Az'gathan who stared back with equal disinterest, dispassionate.

Java knew that it was going to be impossible to force upon them a solid relationship without their own actions depicting their true thoughts. Albedo was obedient to a fault, and Cocytus would probably commit seppuku before trying anything that would displease Momonga. She decided to become the mediator whenever required. They were both terrible at negotiations.

"Hello, brother," Wrath started a bit uncomfortably. Situs did not respond, but he did nod a tiny fraction. That was something.

Java nudged him in the side. Situs growled, but slumped in a more relaxed position. "Yes. It's...good to see you're alive."

"Thank you."

The conversation petered off there, neither of them having too much to say to the other. Situs gave Momonga a side-glance asking for assistance and Momonga decided to walk forward, placing his staff down at the space between them. Java's eyebrow twitched again.

"Alright. What did you come here for, Wrath?"

"I came here to integrate into the community you've set up here in this place. Java mentioned how it was peaceful here despite human-monster relations."

Albedo twitched slightly but didn't say anything to refute. Java gave her an inwards thumbs-up.

"I've always wondered why I felt so split between the lives of humanity and the lives of those among my brethren, but I've grown to embrace it. It was given to me as the gift of thinking for my own benefit, without having to listen to some higher being that had put strings of code into my system."

Momonga's hand clenched tighter around his staff. He hadn't heard of yet another NPC knowing about their code or the computer they were all made from.

"I've heard of your loyalty to those beings, but I'll have to put forth my own independence from them. I don't want to work for your people, but I'd like to work with them. I think that as long as one person has goals that align with mine, there will be some purpose for me staying here. Would that be a possibility?"

Situs frowned. "We don't have enough room."

Java counted the number of absent Supreme Beings and how many had thrown in their items to be put in the Treasury. It was true that they only had enough rooms for the Supreme Beings that had decided to leave, but even then Momonga probably would've left their things exactly as they were. "Okay. You can have my room and I can share with Situs instead, then."

Demiurge and Albedo turned their heads to her in absolute horror. "No need for that! We have space in the servant's quarters!" Albedo half-screeched.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, of course. We definitely could not hinder you from the confines of your own room, Java-sama."

"I disagree with that but I'll have to oblige. Thank you."

Momonga almost snickered.

"I definitely would not sleep in your room, ever," Wrath said. "The dead rat in your hair last time almost gave me a disease and probably contracted three types of the plague. I would've chosen to take it outside if I had to sleep anywhere."

"Rude! He wasn't even dead! And was also very nice to hang around with, you know!"

"Yes, do not insult rats. They have achieved the greatest contributions to society."

"...Like what?"

"Making sure you don't look insane by talking to yourself all day. I hear you've said some very stupid things when Java first met you."

The conversation continued to deteriorate, and Demiurge listened to their ping-ponging insults at each other with a growing sense of understanding. Ah, they were speaking in code of some sort. Their vocabulary must have changed in order for prying ears to not understand. Perhaps this demon was trustworthy, after all. If Java could talk to him, then he would set aside his distrust from earlier.

"Now that the rat problem is settled," Momonga said, "I'll have arrangements set up for your room in the 9th floor. Perhaps, in the meantime, you can tell me about where you've gone this whole time, Java."

"Oh, yeah." She brightened up, taking her bag and rummaging around for awhile before unfolding a giant map she'd created of the outer boundaries. The demons and skeleton surrounding the map leaned in slightly to take a look. "Ithersta brought back maps from different areas and I put them together."

There were two giant sections that had greater detail, so much so that she was forced to use a second scroll to draw the finer details. She pointed towards the individual towns and cities she'd visited, which ones that humans were and weren't allowed and the same with heteromorphic creatures.

"Good. This is very detailed." Momonga tapped an area. "Which parts do you recommend monsters could visit and trade?"

Java pointed. "Another village in different swamplands. This city is mixed, but individual shopkeepers might still be favored to one specific race. Definitely go here for iron, it's the best place to get ore and smelt weapons other than the dwarves."

"I'll keep that in mind during any possible interactions in the future. Thank you for making this for us." He squinted, picking up the paper between two long phalanges. "What is this made out of, may I ask?"

"Plant fibers. You take the inner parts of a tree and thin it, smash it into pulp, soak it in water and leave it there for a couple days."

"It seems durable. A little rougher than I expected, but it won't tear apart easily."

"You live in your real-life job, you've probably never touched anything that isn't A-grade printing paper."

"Lies. Lies and slander."

Albedo saw fit to finally take Demiurge and leave the premises, stepping outside just to assign a servant or two to make the bed for their new companion. Java decided to follow them out, motioning for Situs to stay with his guest.

She curiously trailed them as they conversed, seemingly with another member of the inner tomb. They stopped as soon as they noticed her and dropped their hands from their temples respectfully, letting the other side go silent.

"Sorry for interrupting."

"No problem at all, Java-sama."

For the first time since they'd seen her, she grimaced. Albedo instantly kneeled. "Forgive me! I'll be more on-notice next time I-"

"No. It's not that. Is it possible for people to..." She gestured. "You know. Not. Put anything after my name. Don't say the suffix. Java."

Demiurge and Albedo shared a glance. "I," Demiurge said.

The very idea of saying her name without additional syllables seemed to have put them into a coma. Java waved a hand slowly in front of their faces. Albedo paled, then reddened, then turned blue. She opened her mouth to say her name.

"J-J-Ja...Jav-"

And then she fainted.

"Albedo!" Demiurge shouted, but he did not kneel down to help her. She'd already collapsed. Then he realized his fate and looked back at his Supreme Being.

"Yes, Java-sama-" He coughed dryly. "I mean, Java. I'll bring her back to her quarters imm-"

Then keeled over, choking.

Blood came out of his mouth. Demiurge promptly wiped it off, and when Java squinted to find out how it seemed like he bit his own tongue. Java gave him a look as he turned to help Albedo up, and disappeared through a rift he'd made in order to escape.

Java gazed silently after their departure before turning back to see Momonga once again. He was still sitting in the room, facing Wrath who'd drawn him into an interesting conversation about the types of small animals he'd come across and if Momonga recognized any of them.

As if unbidden, her eyes gravitated towards the corner of her vision at the part-transparent message that'd been there since her coming alive.

_[Defeat the World Enemy: 7 remaining.]_

She'd been picking off the ones she could find during the months she was gone searching the lands, but the game apparently didn't have the heart to tell her where the last ones were. She didn't go off killing every living thing she found, but she was close to just fighting anything that seemed decently strong and hoping it was one of them.

Converting them was the easy part. The hard part now was tracking them down. And Java had a feeling that the world they were in now would hold the remaining ones that were still missing, because if the last updates Momonga had been talking about were anything before the game died then they would have the final bosses finally produced results somewhere.

Ithersta was still searching. It hadn't stopped ever since she'd ordered it to find more, map out more land. The energy it contained wasn't too high since it was merely a tracking device, but the way it searched made it exceedingly fast and impossible to be stopped by physical barriers. For the psychic ones, Ithersta could deconstruct and create small areas where it could teleport through.

Other than that the only thing Java could do now was to wait. So she retreated back into her room, away from everybody else and leaving her friend to it.

It was evening once again when Albedo finally gained the courage to face Java again. She'd rounded the corner and met the leader's eyes across the room, who'd apparently been sitting while reading some sort of book with many of the pages crossed out or blackened with ink.

Java closed the book and set it aside. Albedo shuffled forward with a hint of nervousness in her step.

"I apologize for my unseemly behavior earlier!"

"No worries."

"I-I will take care so as to not fall ill in your presence again, not that I wished to! I will-"

"I don't need your apologies." Java glanced up from the book's binding and Albedo jolted. This, like before, was the first time that Java looked so serious. This was one of the rare times that Java put forth her expression.

_I made her angry._

Albedo kept silent. Java continued. "I just want to know. You don't _need_ to. Will you call me by name?"

This was not a time to hesitate, because they both knew what had happened before and didn't want the same outcome lest there be more issues rising than just her incompetence. Albedo was afraid. She instinctively took a breath, opened her mouth, and-

"Java." The word was uttered without a stutter or wavering this time, and Albedo seemed almost surprised by how simple it'd been. But now was not the time to think about that because Java was still looking at her. "Yes, Java."

Java slumped. Her grip relaxed then, less tense than it'd been before while still holding the book. "Thank you, Albedo."

Albedo relaxed slightly as well, though her posture remained elegant.

"Your effort was all I needed. I guess the result wasn't really the point, the point was that you tried," she added to herself. "Without avoiding it or trying to find a loophole somewhere."

"I would never," Albedo intoned, and then she coughed. "I mean-"

"I know. And it's fine." Java glanced somewhere to her right, where the stairs would lead to the next floor. "It won't really matter too much in the end, anyway. Nobody will be from the place we've originally come from, and the logistics make sure of that."

Albedo felt a slight flush coming from her neck and crawling upward. Her thoughts had been provoked and met. "I see."

"You love him, do you not?" Java was farsighted. "Your wish is to be his aid and to do everything to stay relevant, to be his right side. The extent is really enviable, romantic or platonic I don't care. But he'll recognize you more when you stand up for yourself. When you see each other as equals, he will love you for who you are. I know I would."

"What..." Did Java love her? Albedo's throat went somewhat dry. She swallowed. Her feathers were trembling. "What is your wish?"

Java stared at her for so long that she felt sweat beginning to form on the small of her back. Her wings unfolded, aroused, and she folded them back in on impulse. Her leader seemed to be thinking very hard on this question.

"I want... I want magic to be learned and free to be given. I want schools and institutions for young children to learn history and the countries their people had fallen. I want forests to be left alone, ancestral ruins to be preserved, to still see constellations while sitting out at night and listening to the wind and knowing that you'll still be okay, even when outside and when humans are still around."

Albedo stopped blinking. She hadn't really expected this sort of answer to that question; she'd been searching for a simple answer, relating to the situation they were broaching on before. This was something else entirely, different to the conversation and such a straightforward response from the Supreme Being as well. It was almost as if Java had revealed something very close, a part that hadn't been freed until Albedo had let her. And that...

It filled her with a sense of pride.

"But I want you to _learn," _Java said again, and it struck deeper this time. "Right now you listen but you don't think on your own. You optimize Nazarick over your own needs, which is admirable and well-appreciated but it's not what you and I and all of us need together. I want you to see how there is incredible strength in admitting your own weakness and actually pulling through with it. I want you to meet humans as they are and lower your level."

Albedo listened. And Java was correct: she did not understand what the final picture was meant to be. Her frustration must have filtered through because Java stopped talking and tilted her head to think.

"...Let's compare ourselves to ants," she said. "Ants listen to their ant queen and provide nourishment, propagate to create eggs, and overall consider their lives unimportant when their queen is in danger. Momonga is the queen. But here the problem is that he never really wanted to be, and deep down he understands the fact that despite wishing to be on the front lines once again he must stay confined because his soldiers will go insane without him."

"And that's where the critical thinking comes in. Suppose the soldiers understood that things come and go, and that the pressure of wanting someone to stay alive and by their side lessened to the point that Momonga could go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and would not spontaneously combust under that weight. I suppose I've met some sort of standard by leaving as I wish," she said. "Which means that in some form you lot either find Momonga to be lacking in ways of protection or that I'm disposable."

Albedo, horrified, opened her mouth to protest. "And it's fine," Java spoke, cutting her off. "Please don't interrupt. Just keep listening."

Albedo obediently shut her mouth.

"I know where you stand on these sorts of things, both on humans and on Momonga. Once you're willing to find some sort of similarity between the two you'll be able to accept that humans have value, and that Momonga shouldn't have to hold the entire world on his back. Ruling humans is a lot harder than it looks, and I'm sure that he'll be capable of doing it, but I want you to ask why you're encouraging him to carry more weight than he needs to."

"So for now, I just want you and Demiurge to look into human villages. Just watch them. I'm sure that you can find something useful from doing it. And to repeat after Momonga's standing..." Java tapped her hand. "'I have faith that there are good people in the world. It doesn't matter where they're from."'

Albedo knew he'd said it before as well. It was back when she'd first revealed that she wasn't human. And despite all the worthy praises that should come with it, Java's face had looked so pained that it had taken consolation from Momonga to tone it down.

"This place doesn't feel like home anymore," Java said, and a small part of Albedo died with the statement. "Not without all of its participants missing. It will probably never feel like home again. Please understand that it doesn't mean that we don't like your presence, but there is a feeling that nothing that we do here will ever matter if nobody else will experience it with us."

"Do you..." Albedo didn't know what else to say. "Do you not like having us as your servants?"

"...No." But as Albedo was about to begin crying, Java continued. "I'd rather have you as a friend."

* * *

Demiurge met Albedo later that day, noting that her hair was noticeably more frayed and her face too pale to be normal. She promptly met his eyes and straightened up, untangling any possible kinks in her black hair.

"You look unwell," he told her. "Do you require another healing spell? I can call the miko."

"No," Albedo responded quietly. "It's unnecessary. I will be alright."

Despite knowing very well that she was not, in fact, alright, Demiurge took her word for it. Nothing ever quite fazed her unless it was important, and the only thing Albedo ever thought was important related to the Supreme Beings. He did not require a part in their confidentiality.

"Well, if you're now in optimal shape once again, Momonga-sama has made a brief request of you. Go see him in the drawing-room, at your earliest convenience."

"Yes, Demiurge."

Albedo's ring glowed and she was transported to the 9th floor. The ring normally transported them right where the beginning of the hallway would be, but recently Momonga had moved the portal so they could reach his quarters much quicker than before. Walking as quickly as she could, Albedo stepped into his hallway and rapped a knuckle on the door.

"Come in," came Momonga's deep voice.

"I apologize for taking so long," she said as she entered the room, but Momonga waved it aside.

"Don't worry about that. I've heard from Demiurge that you were feeling a bit off, so for today I will not push you too much."

"Thank you for your great benevolence."

Momonga tapped his desk leisurely, cradling his skull with the other hand. He seemed to be mulling over a thought in his head. Albedo kept on standby until his jaw opened once more. "How is Java right now?"

"H-how is she?"

"She hasn't dropped by in a while. I don't know exactly what she's up to anymore."

"She mentioned something about going back outside again to find something. She did not disclose who or what the search was for."

"...Ah."

His staff moved toward him of its own accord, then stopped as Momonga realized. It must have reacted to his instability. "I cannot help but be nervous after what happened last time. Java is stronger than anyone else, sure, but if she lets her guard down then she can still be trapped in a manipulation or blocking spell. And monsters aren't the only dangerous beings out there."

Albedo instinctively thought _human, _then abruptly wrenched the thought out of her mind. Java had explicitly told her about her not using humans as scapegoats, although it was excruciatingly against her nature to do so. Demiurge likely had that similar problem when being scolded before. And in her mind's eye, she saw Momonga reaching down to hand an insignificant villager girl a red potion of immeasurable value. An Overlord would normally never stoop so low as to save a human child's life when they were of little notice.

With Java's information added, Albedo's view changed a bit. What she'd originally seen as boredom and a transaction between village to trading and potion center became - well, it was still just that, but aside from intruders Momonga had never gone out of his way to specifically harm humans for the pleasure. Or creatures at all, for that matter. Unlike Demiurge, who reveled in the torture, and Neuronist, who saw it as a means to an end, Momonga killed and then left.

This was his skill - to be looking forever into the future and the past, and in the present he merely ticked off spots that would lead to his inevitable victory. He had no blind spots, no weaknesses. He had no moral qualms holding him back.

Albedo knew that she favored Momonga's future vision, but with Java she became acutely aware that even Momonga had a penchant for humans that she'd never noticed and almost never would have. He was unlike any other undead for that matter, for all undead had a burning hatred for those who were living.

"I will [Message] her later. I hope your recovery goes well."

"Thank you, Momonga-sama."

Albedo backed out of his room, feeling somewhat surprised by how she'd wanted to leave rather than pander to stay a little longer. She brushed off those thoughts and chalked it up to worry as she headed off towards her own duties, taking care as to leave Demiurge another note of absence.

A day passed. She hadn't been sick in the first place, but Java's words had never left. Albedo was torn between deciding that she should still respect their boundaries as master and servant or - the very notion scared her beyond anything - entertain the idea of talking to her Supreme Being less formally. Never in her dreams had she anticipated such a privilege and it made her salivate.

_But what if it was a test...? _

No, she told herself. Java had firmly claimed that it hadn't been a test, and although mind games were more of Demiurge's caliber Albedo knew when someone was lying or telling the truth. Java was the most truthful of them all. Not in the completely innocent sense, but the secrets she kept she didn't outright lie about and rather subverted the conversation elsewhere.

Java was sitting next to Situs, both of them physically present but only listening to the conversation between Wrath and Momonga who had entered yet another animated talk about arduous battles in the past and the experiences they had while fighting strong opponents.

"Throw a chicken at them," Java said calmly. "They'll be so distracted by the chicken that they'll stop throwing fireballs and try roasting it instead."

"What did that chicken even do to deserve such a cruel death?" Situs spoke, deadpan.

"Throw a wooden one."

"That's a waste of time and craftsmanship. And also, your carving skills are worse than mine."

"Then _you _make it!"

"Just cast a spell, you idiot."

"I wouldn't like to admit it, but Situs-sama is right; the chicken idea is actually a terrible way of distraction, Java."

Albedo didn't even realize that the words escaped her mouth until they did.

She immediately clapped a hand to her face, shocked. Momonga went absolutely silent. So did Demiurge, the substitute at the time for her absence. Java looked as if the sun had risen thrice after many eons of thunder and rain, causing the fields to grow flowers of all kinds. At least there was one positive response.

**"Albedo!**" Demiurge screeched, hair rising. His glasses fell, only amplifying his inhuman appearance. **"You'd be so inclined as to remove-"**

"Yes!" Java grabbed Albedo's shoulders, eyes alight. Albedo felt her knees growing weak at her master's glowing expression, face joyous. Demiurge halted, his tail withdrawing in sheer confusion. "Albedo! You did good!"

Albedo smiled, though it did look a bit more wobbly than she would've liked. Heaven could kill her now and she would die happily in Java's arms.

"I-" Demiurge stopped. "You approve of it?"

"I love it! Absolutely! Albedo, I am so proud of you."

Albedo's face promptly erupted in one giant, red blush as her senses went haywire. _Oh, _her mind thought. "I'm honored," she replied weakly as she could. Demiurge was halfway between jealous and nervous, though Albedo couldn't tell through the marigolds blooming in her vision.

Her love had always been full of inconsequential marks that grew bigger and bigger, until it was too large and too destructive to ignore. That was exactly what was happening now, Albedo realized, as Java turned away but Albedo's eyes stayed glued to her face.

"Haha," Momonga said. He didn't seem to be angry either. "Java, did you ask her to do this?"

"Yeah."

"I suppose it might be too much of a stretch to ask the same for me."

"Nothing will ever be too big a task for you," Java said. Then two pairs of expectant gazes turned to Albedo, who'd championed the first title of servant who'd managed to finally stop the overly-bearing title of 'master'.

"M-Momonga-" Albedo stuttered out. "-san."

It was much more difficult to spell out Momonga's name. The age difference would still be thousands of years between them, even if the reverence had been dropped. Not that Albedo did not revere him, but it seemed that what they wanted overweighed any fear that she had of being wrong about it.

"Ah, I do suppose that calling me without a suffix would be a bit of a stretch," Momonga agreed, not even a hint of anger. "I am your leader, after all."

"Even doing this is extremely difficult for me," Albedo admitted.

"But difficult doesn't mean bad," Java replied. The way she smiled sent more flutters up Albedo's spine.

Demiurge's tail was swaying, but not once did he choose to interrupt. He briefly sent Albedo a nod and kept his post.

"Momonga," Java said as they settled down. Then she cast a glance at the two. It appeared like Java wanted to speak of something more serious this time because the signal she sent was for them to have privacy. Demiurge cast a silencing spell so that all the servants in the room would be deafened, but as Java turned back to face Momonga Albedo could still read what she said from her lip movements.

"If you ever wanted to come back to the old world, ever wanted to see your friends again, would you sacrifice everything in order to do it?"

Momonga looked surprised. He briefly put his hand to his skull, contemplating exactly how to word his reply. "Yes," he finally said. "I don't want to say this, but yes. I would sacrifice everything. Would that be selfish of me?"

Java stared back at him for a while without a response, in which Momonga and Albedo could tell that something was a little wrong with the situation. He opened his mouth to continue but she cut him to it. "No, it's not. I hate to admit it, but we could always replace everything that was in this game back to how it was before by saving it. I'm sure with one of our group's programming skills and the docs we've made we can compile the same characters all over again."

Albedo's feelings of being so insignificant that she could be replaced and remade so easily made her feel joy in a way she could not comprehend. _They value me enough that they would make an exact replica of who I was before, _she thought. She felt absolutely adored in a way.

"Why the question?" Momonga asked.

"Just wanted to know the response."

Gravitating towards this love felt entirely different than her crush towards Momonga. Somehow this one felt more whole, well-rounded and discovered upon, much like a pearl from a treasure chest that she hadn't expected to find at all. Java felt like thousands of pearls all wrapped into one.

Albedo snuck a little peek at Java's expression for the remainder of the meeting, always turning away and hiding her face whenever Java turned back to glance even a bit towards the advisor behind them. Her breath quickened. She felt rather flushed.

Demiurge seemed to have come to the conclusion that Albedo was staring at Momonga due to the angle that they were standing, but from then on his eyes never left Java.

* * *

Thank you for reading have a good day


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